We're All a Bunch of Liars
by Debra Dreamer
Summary: Growing up at Wammy's House is never easy. Follow the lives of the Wammy childern as they grow up and enter the world of love, loss, sacrifice, danger, and Kira. Bit of a Mail Jeevas love story too. May contain dark-ish themed stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is a story about a group of childern growing up. Yes there's an OC and yes a few details will be changed from the oringal plotline but major plot points will remain the same. Thank you, and please enjoy :D**

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><p><em>"Holding on too tight.<em>  
><em>Breathe the breath of life,<em>  
><em>So I can leave this world behind.<em>

_It only hurts just once._  
><em>They're only broken bones.<em>  
><em>Hide the hate inside."<em>  
><strong>-Breaking Benjamin, Unknown Soldier <strong>

The limo was driving through the urban streets as the night sky grew darker. An old man was sitting in driver's seat, hands gripping the steering wheel and his shinny shoes pressed lightly on the gas. A black hat covered his gray hair and matched with his dress coat, shirt and pants. He turned a corner in silence as he looked in the mirror above him at the young man in the back.

His hair was black and rather messy, his eyes just as dark as the bags under his eyes. He didn't seem to sit, he more of crouched instead, his white shirt sagging to his form. He wore simple jeans, and no shoes, or socks for that matter, one bare foot rubbed the other. He had a bag of jellybeans in one hand, the other popping each one he grabbed into his mouth.

He didn't question where his driver was taking him, he was well aware of what needed to be done. He was, in fact, the greatest detective in the world. He was aware of the incident that took place.

A young woman killed her husband than took her own life, leaving their only child alone.

"Watari," The detective spoke. "Where is the exact location of this pick up?" He popped a purple jellybean into his mouth.

The driver, Watari, answered without taking his eyes off the road. "At the young lady's foster family's home. They don't want to keep her, and she's rather intelligent, already making assumptions about her mother's alleged suicide."

The detective nodded and put another jellybean in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "The foster parents, they're aware of these… assumptions," He said with his mouth full, it wasn't a question.

Watari nodded.

"And this fact frightens them, that a six-year-old infant could hypothesize this," Also not a question.

"Yes, that's right."

As the stars grew brighter, Watari pulled into the driveway of a rather normal looking house. The shutters were white, the door was red and the gutters needed to be cleaned. A few bushes and flowers were growing in the front yard, along with some yellow flowers that parents said were weeds. Two big windows stared out into the street, light pouring out of one. Watari opened his door and looked back at the detective.

"I take it you want to stay in the car, Ryuuzaki?" He said politely.

"Yes," the detective responded, examining a white jelly bean with his long fingers, holding it up to his right eye suspiciously.

Watari nodded and got out of the car then he gently closed the door, the car was left running; a sign they wouldn't be here for long. Watari made his way up the porch steps to the white door. Ryuuzaki watched as the man knocked on the door and it was pulled open instantly by a light-haired woman who tried to look taller by wearing thick shoes. _Waiting for us to take the girl away. _Watari gave a slight bow and followed the woman into the house. Ryuuzaki finally put the white jellybean into his mouth and chewed it cautiously. _Hm… coconut… _

The curtains from one of the windows were pulled back a bit, and a small face peeked out at the car. Ryuuzaki assumed this was her, due to the fact light hair seemed to run in this family, and the girl's was as black as his. She couldn't see him because of the tinted windows but her eyebrows gave a delicate raise at the sight of the car that would be taking her away from this place. Her eyes were rather big even without the shock of having a limousine come to pick her up and whisk her away to Winchester.

She leapt down from her perch in the window as her name was presumably called by one of her foster parents, Ryuuzaki could tell by the glee in the woman's eyes when Watari appeared at the door, that they were more than eager to let this child go. Ryuuzaki dug around in the bag for a moment, trying to mix up the results of the flavors.

The case of the young girl's parent's death was very interesting to him; perhaps it was due to the fact that that man that called himself her father wasn't related to the child in any way. Ryuuzaki put his thumb against his lips, thinking. _Could it be possible that the child's real father murdered her step-father and then killed her mother? Or was it something else entirely? _He didn't know exactly what human emotions of fatherly love would do in this situation. He wasn't sure if the child's biological father would've killed the child too just to finish the job. But this case was not one he could take on; this one would be the job of the local police, not the three greatest detectives in the world.

After a few more moments the front door opened again and Watari was walking out with the girl from the window. She looked a lot smaller and afraid now, and Ryuuzaki couldn't blame her. Her parents have been killed, her foster family was more than ready to ship her away, and now she was going to an orphanage with a man she had only met once. Watari had visited the girl a few weeks ago to give her a test that would determine if she was indeed a gifted child.

The door slammed close a bit too quickly and Watari put his hand on the little girl's shoulder as tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes. In her small pale hands she clutched a small orange dog or a bear (It was hard to tell which) with multi-colored limbs and ears. It appeared to be all she had.

Watari opened the door to the back of the limo and it open while the black-haired child climbed up onto the seat a bit nervously. She looked up at Ryuuzaki with her big eyes but she didn't speak until Watari had shut the door and climbed back into the driver's seat.

"H-hello," She stuttered in a very small voice.

"Hello," Ryuuzaki answered in his monotone voice. "What might your name be?" He asked politely.

"Jaclyn…" She muttered quietly. "Who are you?"

"It seems only fair since you revealed your identity to me, that I should reveal mine to you," He explained why he was going to reveal the information he had spent years trying to keep away from the ears of everyone except a select few. "I am L," He said simply.

Her big icy blue eyes widened a bit more; she had probably heard about him somewhere. "You catch the bad guys right?" Her voice was less shaky.

"Yes I do," L replied in his monotone voice. "Perhaps one day you'll be as great as me. You may be the one to take my place when my time comes." She seemed to understand what he was saying.

"I'll get to take over your job when you die?" She asked a little hesitantly.

"Only if you prove to be the smartest," L replied, hints of a smile appeared on his face.

"Where exactly are you and Mr. Wammy taking me?" She asked, her voice started to grow weak again.

"There's an orphanage in Winchester where we'll be taking you. You see this certain place is for smart, gifted children with potential. But everyone there has a special name, and everyone will call you be your special name and you'll call everyone by theirs. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes… but why do we need these names?"

"Since no one besides me, Wammy and Roger will know your real name, you'll be safe from harm," he explained. "My special name is Ryuuzaki, which I would expect you to call me. Mr. Wammy's is Watari, and so forth."

"What's my name gonna be?" She asked a bit eager. Ryuuzaki put his thumb back to his mouth after she asked. He looked down at the colored bag of jellybeans as he thought some more.

"From now on your name is going to be Butterfly," He said at last. _How suiting…_ He congratulated himself mentally. Butterfly ran that name through her head a few times, biting her pointer finger softly with her teeth.

"I like it…" She admitted a bit sheepishly. "Thank you, Ryuuzaki." He smiled a bit unlike Watari who was full out beaming, but they couldn't see him from the backseats.

Butterfly's gaze trailed down to the colorful bag of jellybeans still in Ryuuzaki's hand. He caught the location of her interest and held out the bag to her. She reached in and pulled out a bright red one and put it into her mouth and chewed slowly. Her blue eyes immediately lit up and she reached back into the bag, still being held by Ryuuzaki, and ate a purple one. She gagged but unwillingly swallowed rather painfully. She immediately peered into the bag and pin-pointed the location of another shinny red one. Her fingers plucked it out of the colorful bag and it quickly ended up in her mouth, being crushed by her teeth. Ryuuzaki hid his amusement at the sight as she rummaged through the bag trying to only grab red jellybeans.

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><p>A few hours have passed and Butterfly was asleep, curled up next to Ryuuzaki. They would be in Winchester very shortly.<p>

"Watari," Ryuuzaki said breaking the silence that had slowly set in after the young girl fell asleep, her orange bear/dog cuddled against her chest.

"Yes, what is it?" Watari asked.

"I want her as Near's roommate," He answered.

Watari seemed a little taken aback from that request. "Why is that, L?" He asked.

"The boy seems lonely, and she might prove to be competition for him. She's smart enough," Ryuuzaki explained rather seriously. "He'll show her the way things are done at Wammy's. And if you're worried about the fact that he's male, I would understand, but I assure you, things will be fine."

Watari nodded at this request. "Very well, Ryuuzaki. I'll mention this to Roger."

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><p>It was late, Near didn't know exactly how late until he looked up at the digital clock on his dresser. He paused for a moment, his hand still holding the block he was about to add to his city he created in just a few hours. He had a police station, a church, a few stores and houses, and what he labeled "Wammy's House." He unwilling set the last block to "Wammy's House", viewed his work and began to climb into bed, he already had his white pajamas on. He knew the city would still be there when he woke up. He dozed into a light sleep.<p>

His eyes flashed open when his door was opened. The five-year-old looked over irritated only to see Roger standing in the doorway, holding a few blankets and pillows. Careful not to knock over any of Near's city, Roger made his way over to the other bed in the room and hastily laid out all the blankets under the child's observant gaze. After no more than five minutes, Roger walked out and quietly shut the door.

Near closed his eyes and went back to sleep but a new fact dwelled in his mind. He was going to get a roommate, and judging by the purple blankets, his new roommate was going to be female.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you :D This is just the begining. 3**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Looking everywhere only to find_  
><em>That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind<em>  
><em>(So what am I)<em>  
><em>What do I have but negativity<em>  
><em>'Cause I can't justify the way, everyone is looking at me<em>  
><em>(Nothing to lose)<em>  
><em>Nothing to gain, hollow and alone"<br>_**-Linkin Park, Somewhere I Belong **

Butterfly was perched on a chair in Roger's office that morning as he filed her information into a file. She pulled both of her legs up onto the chair and crossed them "Indian style" like the teacher told them how to on the floor. Her orange bear/dog was held against her chest as she stared at the man shuffling through files. Ryuuzaki had been in the room with her earlier until he went off somewhere. She was scared and a bit nervous but she was holding herself well together unlike the average child her age. Roger was impressed by her score on the test Watari had given her the week before.

"No other student has scored that high except for one," He had said. "She only scored two points lower than Near."

Butterfly didn't know who Near was but she heard the name tossed around a lot by the kids in the halls. Ryuuzaki had taken her around this place they called Wammy's House while the other children where in classes. She was amazed on how big this place seemed. A few kids had the chance to see her, but they mostly stared, no body spoke to her, which added to the fear. Some of the children were way older than her, and some were younger. She remembered feeling self conscious and looking down at her black boots and blue jeans embarrassed, her little hands shoved into her pockets as she shuffled her feet.

"Alright, Butterfly," Roger spoke up, bringing her back to reality. "All the paperwork's been taken care of and you'll be able to go to classes tomorrow." After seeing the alarm in her eyes he smiled reassuringly. "You'll roommate will show you where they're at, you two will have the same classes because of your similar intelligence."

Butterfly nodded. "When am I going to meet them?"

"Later," Roger replied a bit bored. "Ryuuzaki said he'd show you your room first, and the mess hall, or cafeteria, whatever you prefer."

Butterfly nodded and tightened her grip on her dog/bear as anticipation clawed at her stomach.

It seemed like it was only yesterday when she was woken up in the middle of the night by an ear-splitting shriek. She knew that was her momma who was screaming; daddy didn't scream like that, his voice was deeper than momma's. Butterfly was too scared to stumble down those steps that daddy always feel down because momma left her bottles on the steps and daddy would get mad and yell about. She could only curl up closer to Baby, her stuffed bear or dog that was given to her on her fourth birthday. It smelled like the man who gave it to her; like strawberries. She remembered hearing things fall and momma scream and kick, but Butterfly heard this almost every night, whenever daddy came back from the bar or his friend's house after work. Daddy was always angry and mommy was always sick and always drinking from her little bottles. Daddy hit mommy all the time, but mommy told her daughter that this was how it's supposed to be.

"It's okay, husbands need to correct their wives when they're wrong," Momma had said to her in a soft voice.

Butterfly was not expecting to walk down those stairs in the morning to see momma hanging from the pipes in the kitchen ceiling; a TV cord wrapped around her neck and a chair knocked over below her dangling feet. Daddy wasn't on the couch like usual. No, daddy was lying on the living room floor, a knife sticking out of his chest and momma's bottle lying on the ground next to them.

"Butterfly?" Roger asked, bringing the girl back to reality when he saw her body start shaking.

"Can I take Baby with me?" She asked in a tiny voice, holding the stuffed animal close to her in trembling hands.

"Of course, you can," Watari said, stepping into the office with Ryuuzaki following him. Butterfly noticed Ryuuzaki even stood funny, he was hunched over and his fingers were shoved in the pockets of his jeans as his onyx eyes studied the trembling girl.

"Shall we finish our tour?" Ryuuzaki asked politely in his monotone voice. Butterfly gave a weak nod of her head and hopped off the chair and followed Ryuuzaki out the door.

Ryuuzaki walked hunched over as well but Butterfly didn't want to be rude and ask him why.

"Who gave you that animal, Butterfly?" Ryuuzaki asked as he led the girl down the halls.

"The… man… in my backyard…" She answered feeling stupid. _He'll never believe that… he's going to think I'm stupid…_

Ryuuzaki didn't seem surprised or shocked he just asked, "What was that man's name?"

"I don't know," Butterfly responded as she looked at the stained glass windows they were walking by. "He came by every year on my birthday… he said he was my daddy… but momma said Joey was my daddy," She explained in a confused but serious tone.

"Ah," Ryuuzaki mused as his brain began to race. Butterfly absent mindedly fiddled with Baby's pink ear as Ryuuzaki brought his thumb to his lip and thought. Butterfly saw an open room that looked like a play room with some toys and little tables and chairs with pieces of paper and markers sitting on them. There was another room around this size but it was empty except for a laptop sitting on a table with a little webcam.

Ryuuzaki ushered her past it and stopped at a closed door.

"This is the library," He explained and turned the handle and pushed the door open. Butterfly gasped, there were so many shelves stuffed with books of all sizes. Thick volumes and thin paperbacks, fiction and non-fiction, everything from Poe to Shakespeare, from Animal Farm to books about the Second World War. Some computers were set up in the back as they hummed quietly to themselves on stand-by just waiting to be started up.

"Do you like reading?" Ryuuzaki asked. Butterfly could only nod as her brain took all this in. She used to spend countless hours reading as her parents fought than made up with alcohol and love-making. Books just took the small girl away from the real world.

"Once your classes for the day are over," Ryuuzaki said, "you'll have time to pursue your own interests, meaning you'll have full access to whatever you want to read."

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><p>After Ryuuzaki had shown Butterfly the mess hall, the subject of the strange man who had been visiting the girl yearly had seemed to be dropped. But Ryuuzaki couldn't let the idea go.<p>

_It just can't be… no it _can _be, maybe I just don't want it to be true…_ He thought as he tugged on his lip with his thumb.

"Butterfly," He addressed her as they were making their way to the girl's new room.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki?" She responded as she found herself staring out one of the big windows out to the playground where some of the children were playing. The classes for the day had ended and the children of Wammy's house were doing homework, playing outside, playing indoors, or reading.

"What did that man look like?"

Butterfly thought hard for a moment, trying to reach back to her memories of those nights, her pointer finger ending up in her mouth as she thought.

"I don't remember," She admitted sadly. "I'm so sorry, Ryuuzaki."

Ryuuzaki didn't give up that easily. "Can you remember anything about him? A scent? Or a specific feature?"

Butterfly thought again as she bit her nail thoughtfully. "Yeah… he smelled like strawberries."

Ryuuzaki nodded, "Thank you, if you remember anything else, tell Roger and he will contact me." Butterfly nodded and they had reached their destination.

Butterfly's room had two beds in it, one was covered in a purple blanket and had a zebra stripped pillow her favorite pillow from home. And the other bed had a soft colored light blue blanket and a fluffy white pillow with a toy robot lying on top of the well made bed.

But what caught her attention the most was the city of blocks constructed on the floor. It was huge! Tons of little buildings and big building too, there even seemed to be a few little people set up around the smaller building that looked like stores and houses. Whoever did this must have been working on it for a day straight at least.

Ryuuzaki chuckled quietly at the awed expression on the child's face and watched as she removed her black boots, one sock getting stuck in the boot and getting pulled off along with it, leaving her with one sock on one foot, and the other foot bare. She didn't bother to put the other sock back on so she took the boots and placed them next to the foot of her bed neatly.

"Let's go meet your roommate," Ryuuzaki instructed and received a small nod from the girl who seemed to be growing more confident by the second. He held open the door for her and she walked out, one sock on, one foot bare.

They reached a room where a few children were playing with toys and some were coloring pictures with neon markers. There was a TV on too but it was only playing the World News channel, though a few children seemed completely absorbed by it, clinging on to every word.

Ryuuzaki didn't go into view of the children in that room; he didn't want any more commotion than there already was today. So he simply said, "He's in here, he shouldn't be too hard to find." Then he began to walk away but as he got maybe two feet away Butterfly suddenly spoke up.

"Ryuuzaki, he had red eyes," she said than shyly walked into the room full of children.

Ryuuzaki didn't turn around, in fact he kept walking. He had been right but he couldn't stop the feeling of fear that shot through him as he heard that. _Red eyes… She said he had red eyes… than it must be true… there's no other explanation… _

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><p>Near was sitting on the floor near the television that was talking about a murder case in Portugal which he half listened to. He stacked another card carefully to add to the house he had created in less than ten minutes. A few of the children were muttering quietly to one another as someone else walked into the room. Near didn't really like the other's too much, they were too loud and frankly Near didn't find them in any way competition. Linda was the second smartest in this school, but she fell under him by quite a few points. Near stacked another card as the news station started talking about political elections in America.<p>

The white-haired boy looked over a few seconds later to see what had everyone muttering to each other, he didn't like being left out. A girl who he hadn't seen around before was sitting by herself looking around, registering everyone's faces down in her mind, or so it looked. She had long black hair that looked a bit crooked, like it was trimmed with kitchen scissors by someone who had no idea what they were doing. Her eyes were big and a bright ice-blue color and they flickered around endlessly as she cuddled an orange creature that looked cross between a bear and a dog with a pink ear, a green ear, a pink foot, a green foot, a pink hand, a green hand, a green belly and a green tail. Near thought the creature looked rather odd to him. She wore dark jeans and a black shirt that looked a bit too big but Near didn't see anything wrong with that considering what he often found himself wearing.

Her legs were crossed and one foot had a sock on it and the other was completely bare.

She looked over at Near and looked at the house of cards he had set up. Almost as if this told her something. She scooted over closer to him and smiled a bit shyly.

"I'm Butterfly," She muttered just loud enough for Near to hear.

"Near," He replied in a small monotone voice. She almost seemed to be biting back a laugh. The five-year-old stared at her, eyes slightly narrowed. Near had to admit he was used to people laughing about him but he also had to admit he was sensitive.

"What's funny?" He asked.

"Nothing…" She responded embarrassed, "You just sound like Ryuuzaki…"

Near was a bit shocked. _She's met L… _

"Okay… I'm not upset… I just thought you were like," He dropped his voice, "_them…_"

"What do you mean?"

Near shrugged his small shoulders as he placed another card, he hadn't spoken this much with any other children in awhile, if he ever had.

"They enjoy attacking others for things that are different…" He muttered. "I don't think it's _mature_."

Butterfly nodded. "It's not very nice either." She studied Near as he worked on his house of cards. "You mad that city in my room, didn't you?" She asked.

"_My_ room and yes. You must be the roommate Roger said was coming today. So it would be our room then." Near wasn't really happy about sharing his space with anyone but he did enjoy the small conversation they just had. He supposed he could live with this.

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><p>Butterfly wandered into her room later that night after dinner was served. She was dead on her feet from all that walking and she was ready to sleep. Near was sitting on the floor, twirling a strand of his white hair as he placed a block on a new building he added to his little city. Butterfly had to admit the albino seemed really smart for a five-year-old; in fact he seemed smarter than she could ever dream to be. He wore baggy white pajamas and he always played with his hair, and he probably didn't even know he was doing it.<p>

She looked over and her eyes widened as she saw a plastic bag sitting on her pillow. Inside were a bunch of the red jellybeans, Ryuuzaki said they were cherry flavored. She jumped on to her bed and crawled over to the bag and grabbed it and looked it over as she took in the sight of solely the cherry jellybeans inside. Attached to the bag was a single slip of paper that had nothing on it except for an old-English L.

Butterfly fell asleep shortly after to the sensation of the taste of cherry lingering in her mouth, the feel of Baby snuggled up against her chest and the sound of Near constructing his city of blocks.

She sleep dreamlessly that night even though she was going to be starting classes tomorrow.

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><p><strong>AN: I put song quotes of the song I was listening to while writing... xD **

**I would like to thank Bree Renee for being my first reviewer :D *huggles* And thanks to everyone who read this so far. **

**-Debra**

**BTW This is not a Near love story folks. Sorry :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"_What's real, everybody who doesn't feel safe  
><em>_What's real, everybody who knows they're out of place  
><em>_What's real, anybody with nowhere to run,  
><em>_Who hides in the shadows waiting for the sun."  
><em>**-Linkin Park, Dedicated **

Wammy's House was the sort of place you expected to be full of a mature, sophisticated children above bullying and all that nonsense, however it was pretty close to be the complete opposite. Near knew that fact better than most. He was the smartest, the one closest to succeeding L and all the other geniuses hated him for that. They never hurt Near because of that fact as well, they didn't want L to look down on them for that. Near was rejected, shunned away from everything, nobody tried to befriend the little albino, and it was a lonely existence.

That day, Near woke up his new roommate (he refused to use the word "friend") at seven that morning. She rolled over and woke herself up eventually, her blue eyes cloudy and tired. Near waited patiently in his indifferent manner as she dressed herself in the room as Near stood outside the door in the hallway. She came out not too long later clothed in a black shirt and normal jeans. Wearing shoes wasn't really enforced in Wammy's so she wore her one sock, not bothering to wear the other one. Near could sense the nervousness creeping off of her but he really wasn't sure how to reassure someone so he remained silent. She walked beside him, preferring not to be alone, and Near held back telling her that there wasn't a big difference between being with him or being alone. He was used to being alone; he'd been alone his entire life, so it wasn't any new matter to him. Butterfly may have had a loving family and friends before tragedy had brought her here. There was also a chance that she'd be swooped up by the other children and turn against him and call him a "stupid sheep" along with everything else. Near couldn't control his genes, so he always found the statement unfair, but he never did stand up for himself, he often wished he could, however.

The mess hall was serving breakfast as usual and after receiving his meal, Near sat at the table he usually sat at, alone. Butterfly sat down next to him after getting her own serving of oatmeal, all organic, and that was when the heads really turned her way. Near saw each face dark or pale pool over in shock. There was rejection radiating from each eye, they automatically ruled Butterfly out of anything good at Wammy's, now that she's been seen with Near. They would assume she was smart, they would assume she was Near's friend, they would label her as an enemy, and Near felt bad because he couldn't bring himself to warn her.

She stared down at her food, obviously not hungry, and oblivious to the judging stares being sent her way. Near ate, feeling guiltily that he couldn't apologize for the pain that was coming; it was unfortunate that she ended up being his roommate. Near's mind wandered as he let his emotions go, and went back to where it was safe, his mind.

_Alone, that was the only thing that Near knew was true, nobody cared about him. His mother was ashamed of having this quiet child as her son, ashamed that he never spoke, never thanked anyone, and never even told his family they loved him. Near's father thought they had a mute child until Near's third birthday when he spoke his first sentence: "Mother, I'm finished with this puzzle. Do you think I could have a new one?" After that he fell silent once again. Near's older siblings made fun of him for his white hair and pale skin, his parents then, too, began to avoid the child. The fact that he was a genius made it worse somehow. Near quickly began to fade into the background, a puzzle or two kept him away from his family's judging eyes, and Near learned to keep quiet about everything…_

After both had eaten their meal and the bell rang signaling the first class of the day was going to begin soon, which Near was going to led Butterfly to, like the good person he tried to be (He refused the think "friend" once again). The classes at Wammy's tried to attack every child's capable mind and push it to its limit. The classes were enough to make a high school student throw a brick through a window or two. And Near didn't even try to succeed, he just did.

* * *

><p>Butterfly stood in front of the class shifting her weight from one foot to the other.<p>

"This is Butterfly, this is her first day here and I expect she'll be quite some competition for you, children," the teacher had said with a glint in his eyes. As Butterfly walked to her seat, no one sat beside her luckily, a foot shot out from under one of the tables the minute the teacher turned his broad back. Butterfly fell forward, her arms tried to catch her but she landed heavily on her face. Tears begin to well up in the corners of her eyes but she refused tears, not here. Most of the kids giggled quietly at her, shooting her dominating smirks, showing her exactly what she was to them. They were making it very clear that she didn't belong. She got up, trying to hide the hurt and pain on her face and to look a lot stronger and confident than she really did.

She found her seat and sat down, Near sat up front which was four rows a head of her. She fiddled with her fingers and her blue orbs studied the teacher as he began to explain something that was new to her. Near had told her the classes here were ranked by intelligence and age weighed in a bit, which meant she was in one of the most advanced classes a six year-old could hope to be in. She half paid attention as her mind began to wander like it usually did, but she found herself absorbing the information as well. She thought about those cold October nights on her birthday when she would sneak out into her backyard. The backyard wasn't necessarily safe since they lived in what her momma called "The ghetto" but Butterfly like how it felt to be outside at night, the sun was just too hot. She remembered being perched safely on her picnic table, legs crossed, waiting to see those red eyes glow in the shadows. She began to expect the mysterious man that always appeared each and every year. She found comfort in those warm words that her momma and daddy couldn't offer. She began to crave that warm feeling when he promised she'd make it out alive, she wished he would take her away from that life, he did say he was indeed her daddy… Going off with that stranger seemed better than hearing momma and daddy, Joey, every night.

"_I just bought you your beer… and our daughter some new socks…"_

"Our_ daughter? And why'd you buy the fucking brat socks? The kid only wears one! And I'm not gonna let you waste my money on that kid! You're the one that got knocked up!_ "

A ball of paper that hit the back of Butterfly's head brought her back to the real world. She un-crumbled it and read over the words that were scratched on it crudely. _Better watch your back, kid. They're always out for blood._ She didn't know who threw the paper at her head, but she kept the note in her hands, wishing she could just disappear; she didn't belong anywhere.

After the classes for the day ended, Butterfly decided she would go to the library and do her homework, Near was in their room, playing with his blocks. She had turned the corner to see a small group of girls look at her and snicker under their breaths. They looked to be about eleven, which was older than Butterfly by five years. They were pretty, Butterfly decided, or at least they tried to look that way, with faces powdered with make-up and eye-lashes covered in black goop. Butter also decided that these girls didn't like her.

"Hey, new kid," Chirped one of the younger ones. Butterfly looked up at the girl as she took a step towards her.

"Can I help you..?" Butterfly asked a bit fearfully, but she stood tall, well as tall as the six-year-old could.

"I don't like you," The girl said bluntly. "I don't like you at all, and do you know what happens to people I don't like?"

Butterfly shook her head, unable to form words.

"People that I don't like don't make it here. Nobody likes you, short stuff, and nobody ever will, got that?"

Butterfly didn't give an answer; she just stood there, frozen.

"I said 'got that?'" The girl repeated a bit more fiercely as she took another step toward the black-haired child who took a step back in response.

Butterfly nodded with a little jerk of her head as she looked into this girl's heartless brown eyes.

"Good," the girl snapped. "My name's Striker, little butterfly, and don't forget it if you know what's best for you. You be careful what you do or I can make life here a living hell for you." Striker backed away and walked away with her little group of followers, laughing at the fear they sent into the little girl's heart. They made a promise, and they were intended to keep it, at all costs.

Butterfly hurried away, no tears were coming, lucky for her, and she ducked into the library. She found a nice corner in the fiction section where she could curl up, unnoticed and work on the large amount of homework that had been thrown at her. There was no catching up in Wammy's, it was make it or break it. They didn't slow down for anyone, you just had to know what you were doing if you wanted to make it. Butterfly had only been her for twenty-four hours and she already discovered that much.

None of these kids belonged anywhere; they were aggressive and competitive, and a bit insecure. She found out from Near that they was a list of all the student's IQ scores on a database that anyone could see. Near was at the top and everyone wanted to beat him. Near also said that Butterfly was ranked second which was probably the main reason why the kids didn't seem to like her much, they couldn't beat Near but maybe they were hoping they could beat her. Butterfly knew she didn't have a chance of finding friendship here, she'd never had any friends before and maybe she was hoping she could find some here, maybe she wanted a chance to be loved, and maybe she wanted people to look out for her, maybe for once in her life she wanted to have someone _care._ Near… was Near her friend? She didn't know, but she knew Near wasn't going to stand up for her, it didn't seem like his character… Butterfly would be on her own if she wanted to make it out of here alive, she'd have to learn how to stand up for herself, but she'd been taking pain all her life… maybe she didn't want to fight…

Later that night as she walked to her room and had another piece of paper thrown at her head she began to wonder.

_Is becoming the new L worth all the pain?_

* * *

><p>Mihael Keehl had the perfect family and the perfect life, in any sense a seven-year-old knew. His mother was a beautiful super model with long blonde hair and bright green eyes, his father was a crime boss in the U.S. who was raised in Croatia before returning to his home country. Mihael had a baby sister on the way and the best friend he could ever ask for. Sure there were times when things would get tense and his father would look worried and stressed due to his line of work, but he always made sure his son got all the love a son should get. His best friend, Mail Jeevas, was almost always over and the two boys had countless hours of fun playing together, and they both tried to believe that no harm could ever come to the Keehl family. Mihael knew God would keep them safe, God would keep his father safe when he had to go to meetings that would have his mother pacing and waiting up all night, and that God would keep his mother safe every time she went to the hospital because little Morgan would make her really sick. Mihael even knew that god would be keeping Mail safe every time his parents would hit him or lock him in his room for countless hours without food.<p>

Mihael was a smart kid, but his faith was just as strong as his intelligence, or maybe he just didn't want to believe that anything bad would take this life away from him.

Maybe he didn't have as much faith as he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay this chapter kinda sucked xD But yaaaay! It's Mello! Sorry if I made him seem really religious, it wasn't supposed to come out that way :/ Oh well. Thanks to my lovely reviewers~ I love you guys :3**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Dreaming, I was only dreaming  
><em>_Of another place and time where my family's from  
><em>_Singing, I can hear them singing  
><em>_When the rain had washed away all these scattered dreams  
><em>_Dying, everyone's reminded  
><em>_Hearts are washed in misery, drenched in gasoline  
><em>_Laughter, there's no more laughter  
><em>_Songs of yesterday now live in the underground"  
><em>**-Green Day, Before the Lobotomy**

By the time Mihael Keehl had woken up that morning, Mail was already over and eating breakfast at the Keehls' kitchen table. Mihael's father had already left to overview a meeting between one of his men and a man from a different gang, someone with plans to overtake the mafia. Mihael's mother was home and sitting at the kitchen table with Mail, the long-haired blonde women dressed simply but still beautiful and holding the appearance of a model. The woman smiled warmly at her son as he wandered into the kitchen with sleepy blue eyes and blonde hair tangled with sleep. The Keehls didn't force their son to cut his hair to a more "manly" style like most parents would have; in fact they thought their son looked rather charming and lovable with his hair that ran past his chin.

"Hi, Mail," Mihael grinned as he caught sight of his friend. Mail looked up from his cereal and smiled a bit but his dark blue eyes were clouded with pain and fear. It was probably caused by his parents, no doubt. Mihael sat next to his friend as his mother poured him some cereal.

"Mom," he said impatiently. "I can do that myself."

Mrs. Keehl smiled her son's face fixed with stubbornness. Mihael was a very emotional and determined child, he never liked it when things didn't go the way he wanted them to, and in fact he would usually get mad about it and pout. She hoped the little girl growing inside of her wouldn't pick up on her older brother's impulsive behavior. She was a happy women with a wonderful family and a golden future but still, she worried like there was no tomorrow.

Her husband lived a dangerous life with the position of power he had over the mafia, he was a target and every day Mrs. Keehl would wonder if he'd ever come home. She also worried about the Jeevas child, Mail. The Keehls adored Mail and treated him like a second child, invited him over constantly, fed him and clothed him. They looked at the brown-haired child like he was a gift, his parents, however, looked at the boy like he was a curse. Mrs. Keehl would often find the young boy with fresh bruises on his body or locked outside when he came home late. And Mrs. Keehl didn't know what to do.

Mihael was doing a very good job at cheering up his friend with talk of Mail's favorite thing, video games. Mail was a smart, smart kid but when it came to knowledge of video games, the kid was even smarter. He could tell you the date and time that the first Mario game came out or exactly what Pokémon could dominate another.

"Mrs. Keehl," Mail said politely in his quiet voice. "Would it be alright if I went to dinner with you and Mihael and Mr. Keehl?"

"Of course, dear," she said softly. "But we have to do some running around before that." Mail nodded and pushed his empty cereal bowl but Mihael groaned a bit.

"I don't wanna spend hours in the car," he said stubbornly, crossing his slim arms.

Mrs. Keehl sighed a bit. "How's this? After we finish getting groceries, you both can pick out something special."

Mihael smiled a bit and Mail looked up, a bit shocked and it broke Mrs. Keehl's heart how the boy was always so surprised at anything that was given to him, or promised to him.

Mihael and Mail both washed out their cereal bowls and put them away in their proper places like the good boys they were as Mrs. Keehl laid out Mihael's clothes for him to change into. After she heard the bowls clank back into their proper spots she began to put on her shoes.

"Mihael, get dressed dear," she called out.

"Can't I just wear this?" The blonde boy asked from the kitchen, referring to his pajamas.

"You can't wear pajamas to the store, silly," She laughed. "Now go get changed."

Mihael sighed and trudged into his room. Mail came out into the living room where Mrs. Keehl was waiting, her stomach protruding a bit due to the child forming inside of her and put on his sneakers. He stared at the mother-figure's baby bump for awhile since he had very little exposure to pregnancy and babies. Mrs. Keehl smiled a bit at this and sat down on the dark couch.

"Do you want to feel her kick, Mail?" She asked softly. Mail tilted his head to the side in wonder.

"Kick?"

"Yes, she's on the move right now, here, I'll show you."

Mail hesitantly stepped towards the pregnant women who gently grabbed his hand and pressed it against her abdomen. Mail flinched as he felt something _move_ inside of the blonde women. Then the brief confusion faded and fascination took place. He was fascinated by the life inside of her, the movements of the child growing. Mail had looked up at the older women and smiled a bit.

"I feel her… it's a bit weird… I mean, where do babies come from?" The brunette asked.

Mrs. Keehl chuckled and removed Mail's hand from her swollen abdomen.

"That can wait until you're older," she said amused.

Mihael came out moments later wearing almost all the clothes his mother had picked for him. He traded the blue jeans for black pants and the socks were mismatched but it was acceptable. Mihael put on his shoes and coat and helped Mail zip up his because the zipper got stuck on it again. Mrs. Keehl led the children to the car which she unlocked by using the unlock button on the keychain. The boys climbed in the back of the silver car and buckled themselves up because they were "big boys" like Mihael always made a point of saying.

She climbed in a bit slowly, remembering she was pregnant but the doctor said she could still drive, thank God. She pulled her seat belt around her and put the key in and turned it bringing the car to life. She pulled out of the driveway and began to head to her first stop.

* * *

><p>Mihael ran down the aisle of the store with Mail following behind him. He was tired of being in the car all day and having to stay by his mother in all the stores. But now, now mom said he could get anything he wanted for being a good kid.<br>"What are you gonna get, Mail?" He asked his best friend as he began examining some candy.

"I erm kind of like these," Mail said, showing Mihael a pair of orange goggles he had found. "They look cool… what about you?"

Mihael looked over the selection of candy before picked up a foil wrapped bar of chocolate.

"I'm going to get this," He stated. He hadn't had chocolate much, only in cakes and milk, but he liked both of those a lot. He wandered around with Mail until he found his mother.

"Have you guys decided what you wanted yet?" She asked as she caught sight of the two kids.

"Yup," Mihael declared and held up his chocolate bar proudly. Mail nodded and looked down at the goggles in his hands.

"Alright, let's go pay for it," She said cheerfully and walked over to the check out area where a middle-aged, red-headed woman was waiting.

"What adorable children!" She exclaimed. "Are they both yours?" The cashier slid the eggs Mrs. Keehl had picked out across the bar scanner.

"Why, yes," she said smiling. "They're both wonderful."

"But… you're not my mom, ma'am," Mail said a bit sadly.

"I already think of you as a son," she said softly to Mail who looked rather touched by the comment.

The cashier smiled and scanned the chocolate bar. "When are you expecting?" She asked as she caught sight of Mrs. Keehl's belly. Mihael wasn't sure what that mean exactly.

"In August," Mrs. Keehl said as the check-out lady scanned Mail's goggles.

"Congratulations," She smiled and handed Mrs. Keehl the bag of goods and called the next costumer over. The blonde-haired women and Mihael and Mail got back into the car after all helping to load the groceries into the truck of the silver car. She kept the boy's treats out, however, and handed them to the boys as she climbed back into the car.

Mail put on his goggles after adjusting the straps to fit his head. Mihael tore open his chocolate bar and bite into it, his eyes lighting up instantly.

"Clean up after yourself," she reminded her son. Mihael rolled his eyes at this reminder. Sometimes parents seemed to forget he knew what to do, his school counselor even said he was a genius. But he knew his mother meant well so he stuffed the foil into his coat pocket promising to throw it out at the restaurant.

"You look pretty awesome," He said as he caught sight of Mail in his goggles. Mihael took another bite of the heavenly tasting bar he held in his hands. Mail smiled and thanked him, pushing the goggles to the top of his head, pulling his reddish-brown locks up with it.

Mihael laughed. "Now you look funny."

Mail laughed and got a bit embarrassed and pulled to goggles down to cover his eyes. Mihael's mom looked in the mirror at the two boys.

"Now, we need to stop by home first, it looks like it might rain and your father didn't take his jacket with him today."

The kids nodded and looked out the window to see that the sky was in fact cloudy and growing darker as night came quickly, eating up the daylight like a hungry monster. Mr. Keehl had wanted to meet up with the family, and Mail, at a restaurant for dinner after he finished with that day's work.

It was dark outside when Mrs. Keehl pulled up in the drive way of the Keehl household, left the car running, and made her way into the house, leaving the boys inside the running car.

She came out a few moments later, her striking blonde hair covered up by the hood of Mr. Keehl's jacket that she decided to put on instead of carrying it out. Her model body with the addition of the baby bump little Morgan was causing was covered by the thick material of the jacket Mr. Keehl always wore. She was a beautiful angel covered with the warmth her husband had unfortunately left home that night; because in the black of the dying light she looked like Donovan Keehl, a powerful hand in the mafia.

The boys looked over at the blonde mother-figure just in time to see her crumple to the ground as a silenced bullet shot straight through her head. She fell back instantly as blood erupted from the back of her head, her brain killed and her skull blown away. Both boys could only stare at the blood and the mangled angel lying on the cement.

Mihael was dead silent until he started to scream.

* * *

><p>Mr. Keehl was a stone statue of a man when he came into the living room of his home.<p>

"Nathan? Are they boys okay?" He asked his associate in a dead voice. Mail had called Mr. Keehl on the family's house phone along with 911, Mihael had been shaking too bad to do it himself. In response to that quiet voice shakily saying, "Mr. Keehl… She… she… died….," he had sent one of his best friends to watch over the children as he made official arrangements with the police and the morgue.

Nathan nodded, "They're asleep…" Nathan's voice was laced with pity and compassion but Mr. Keehl was too dead to even acknowledge it. Not only was his beautiful Marcena dead, the life blown out of the back of her scalp, but also his unborn baby girl. Someone had taken away two of his dear ones with the pull of a trigger.

He felt empty, lifeless, like he had nothing but then he remembered his son sleeping upstairs in his room, probably being plagued by nightmares. Mr. Keehl still had his son, and he also had Mail.

_Mail…. He's parents have no idea where he's at…_

"Nathan…" Mr. Keehl said, his voice hallowed out like a log. "I'm going to go next door to the Jeevas's house, to tell them that Mail will be staying the night here…" He didn't wait for a response, he just shrugged on a different jacket that was free of his wife's blood, and trudged out the door.

The Jeevas's were still up, probably due to the sirens that had kept the whole neighborhood awake. Their house wasn't as grand as the Keehl house but it was nice none the less. Mr. Donovan Keehl knocked on the door, not really seeing, his mind was drifting to the day he and Marcena had gotten married.

Mr. Jeevas answered it. "Hello, Donovan, come in, I'm so sorry to hear about Marcena." Did he seem smug? Mr. Keehl followed Mr. Jeevas into the house, and looked over to see Mrs. Jeevas had locked the door. He wasn't sure if to panic or be glad about what he knew was going to happen.

"If only it was you I shot instead of your pretty little wifey," Mr. Jeevas explained. "I didn't want to shoot her, but I thought she was you, Donovan, I apologize." Mr. Jeevas smirked a bit. Mr. Keehl finally understood all about what he had been warned about.

"_Our enemies have contacts near your home that could be bribed with a bit of money, sir…"_

"Vi mislite da me briga više?" He muttered in the language he was raised on.

Mr. Jeevas clearly didn't understand.

Donovan continued, "Moj život je završio minute njezin život bio otpuhan. Niste čak ispod premlaćivanja svog sina, ti prljavi gad."

Mrs. Jeevas just sighed and struck the match.

"Oprosti mi, Mihael."

* * *

><p>Mail looked out the window as the fire started.<p>

By then it was too late.

* * *

><p>Mihael stared out the plane's window, watching the world below him. His family was dead and there were no relations to take care of him, he was alone. No not completely alone, he had Mail who was sitting beside him. They both were being sent to Winchester together to a special orphanage for gifted children. Mihael ran his new name through his head a few times as the clouds lazily strolled by the plane. <em>Mello… Mello…. <em>Mail, no wait, _Matt_ had his head bent over a Gameboy that Mr. Wammy, wait, Watari, had given him before taken off.

Mihael didn't _want_ to go to a school for smart people, he wanted to be home, he wanted his mom and dad, and he wanted his old life back. But no tears fell from those light blue eyes; in fact Mihael began to wonder if his life before the pull of that damned trigger was just a dream.

It was such a shame that they had to miss the funeral to be dragged off to this place.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay I updated pretty quick thanks to the song Before the Lobotomy by Green Day. Man, I'm just Terrible! D: Thanks to you who reviewed! You know who you are :D And yes this was a soley Matt and Mello chapter, sorry all you Near and Butterfly fans, they'll be back in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

_"I don't know what isn't real,  
>But it's easy<br>To beat me.  
>(Suck it in)<br>Life is sink or swim.  
>Love is blinding, no surviving.<br>__  
>I don't know what I want to be yet.<br>But I can show that I need to see this.  
>No time for lies and empty fights.<br>I'm on your side."  
><em>**-Breaking Benjamin, You Fight Me **

_His name's Mello…_ Butterfly reminded herself as she looked at the boy sitting one row over and a few seats up from her. The boy had blonde hair that looked really girly to her, it was almost as long as hers, and he was pretty loud too. Mello was competitive, that much she had already figured out after a week of being in the same class as him. His hand always shot up first whenever the teacher asked a question, and he would always smirk either her way or Near's way every time he got something right. Mello was already feared by the younger ones too, they never did cross him. Already he had been sent to Roger's office twice, once for fighting and once for getting into an argument with a teacher. _He's a loud-mouth… He's a jerk… he's cocky… he's immature…_ Her mind came up with more things Mello was as she tapped her pencil against her paper.

"Matt," the teacher spoke up in her shrill voice addressing the child who shared a desk with Butterfly. Butterfly watched as the boy paused the game he had been secretly playing under the desk at looked up at Ms. Sternard.

"What is the largest desert in the world?" She asked the boy.

"The Antarctic Desert," he replied immediately to the surprise of the teacher who was expecting him to mess up due to the fact he never paid attention.

"Very good…" She continued her lecture after making the remark. Butterfly watched Matt from the corner of her eye curiously as he un-paused his Gameboy and continued playing, his fingers flying over the buttons. Matt was her age and he had reddish brown hair and he wore orange goggles over his eyes that could've been either green or blue or gray. _But he's Mello's friend…_ She reminded herself with a sigh. Mello and Matt were roommates and they came here together, Matt never left Mello's side and didn't seem to care about anyone else. But Matt seemed different somehow; quiet, reserved and maybe a bit shy. He never paid attention in class, all he did was play video games under the desk, and he didn't even look at her once. _Probably because of Mello…_ Mello hated Butterfly, it was very obvious, but he hated Near even more, and Butterfly had a good idea why. Near was number one and she was number two, the same reason why everyone else here hated them.

A ball of paper hit the table in front of her and she knocked it over to Matt with her wrist, it was from Mello no doubt. Matt didn't notice it until she poked him the shoulder with her index finger, cringing at the contact. He looked up alarmed and she pointed to the piece of paper then looked away, her cheeks blazing for reasons unknown. _What if he thinks it's from me? _

But Matt flattened out the piece of paper and recognized Mello's handwriting with ease. Butterfly pulled down a curtain of her hair but she peeked through it at the message Mello had scrawled. _"Near number 2 keeps looking at you…"_

Butterfly almost laughed out loud at that. She'd been in this house for half a year now and everyone had taken a habit to calling her that, a habit that Mello must've picked up on quickly. True, she considered Near her only friend but that's because he was the only one that she could talk to. But she didn't think her and Near were that alike.

Matt rolled his goggle covered eyes and wrote back but his hand covered the message, preventing her from seeing it. Matt rolled the note back up and tossed it at the back of Mello's head.

"Matt! Mello!" scolded the teacher. "Passing notes is strictly forbidden in my class. I want you two to head straight to Roger's office after class!"

Matt shrugged and Mello snarled a curse under his breath. Sometimes it seemed like Mello was just mad at the world. Or so it seemed to Butterfly.

The classes for that day ended and Butterfly was in her room, sitting on the floor, trying her hardest to do her homework. She did only the minimal amount of homework, trying to lose her place as number two. She didn't want everyone to sneer at her and treat her like vermin for the rest of her life. Maybe third place would be better. She wrote the answer to number five absent mindedly as she stared blankly at her paper. Near was beside her, off in his own little world as well, he'd been given some Legos from the toy room earlier and he was enjoying himself in the way he could. Toys, books and electronics were donated to Wammy's from adults all over the world; most of them used to go to Wammy's themselves.

"Near?" She asked quietly. The albino looked up at her to show he was listening. "It's not fair…"

"What's not fair?"

"Life…" She muttered. "I spent my entire life suffering and somehow it's just as bad here… somehow it makes me wish I could just fade into nothing." Near nodded, not speaking and looked back down at the Lego airplane he was creating and added another little cube to the structure. Butterfly sighed and looked back down at her homework sadly. Sometimes it felt like Near just didn't listen.

Her fingers managed to scribble in the rest of the answers on the piece of paper and she tucked it into her book and slammed the tick volume shut. The book containing words, knowledge and all the homework the girl had just completed were set down on her nightstand. She stood there for a minute as she felt the need for something. She wasn't hungry but somehow her body was screaming for the taste of those cherry flavored candy beans to touch her lips. The bag L had given her many months ago was long gone and she'd been ignoring these urges for so long. The kitchen was usually packed with sweets due to L's request and she wondered if there would be any jellybeans.

Acting on the impulse for this tasty substance, she scooped up Baby in her arms and rushed out of the door.

The children weren't paying much notice to her, some smirked, some looked the other way but most of them pretended that she was just part of the wall. Butterfly was used to that feeling now, she was used to the feeling of unwelcome but she couldn't help but hate them for that. Yes, Butterfly hated these other children even though most of them had suffered like she did. She hid her face in the top of Baby's polyester filled head as she hurried toward the kitchen quickly, not wanting to spend this much time out in the open. It was eight o'clock, everyone had to be in there room at ten, and Striker's gang was usually out at nine-ish. Striker loved teasing the poor girl endlessly or anyone that happened to cross her that day.

As she turned a corner suddenly Baby was torn from her pale hands. At first Butterfly expected Striker, but no, the child holding baby above her reach had blonde hair.

"Is this yours?" Mello taunted.

"Yes…" Butterfly stuttered. "Give it back…" Mello smirked and held the bear/dog up higher.

"You'll have to jump for it, shorty."

Butterfly didn't feel like making a fool of herself today, so she instead stared up helplessly at the stuffed creature located just out of the black-haired girl's reach. She hated this! Why couldn't Mello just leave her alone? Why did he have to do this?

"Mello… please… Just give me back Baby," She said a bit more loudly. Mello smirked a bit more.

"Baby, is that her name? How cute…" He still held the creature up though. Butterfly gritted her teeth in annoyance. Sure, Mello was bigger, older and stronger than her but she was considering hitting him or kicking him. Anger began to fill her form but instead of coming out like that, tears welled up in her eyes. _No… stop crying! _Mello grinned, he wanted to see her cry and that just made her even angrier.

"Mello… just give her back the bear… 'kay?" said a bored voice that belonged to Matt. Matt didn't even look up to say it directly; he just stared down at his game. Butterfly hadn't even seen him walk up.

"Fine…" Mello sighed and dropped Baby to the ground and turned away. Butterfly grabbed the creature and cuddled it close to her and ran back to her room, not even bothering to hunt for jellybeans. She hated crying in front of others and she didn't want anyone else to attack her when she was already weakened enough. Her room was the safest place to be right now.

Near looked up alarmed as Butterfly hurried in and slammed the door before throwing herself onto her bed. Butterfly wished that Near would ask her what was wrong for once, she wanted to talk to someone, anyone, but that person would and could never be Near.

Soon after, Butterfly drifted off into a rage induced slumber. Her angry mind did nothing to comfort her. Instead it did the opposite.

"_You fucking brat!" Butterfly's mother screamed as she slapped the girl across the face. It stung really badly and Butterfly stumbled back, tears streaming down her red face._

"_I'm s-sorry mommy… so sorry…"_

"_No, you're not sorry! You just had to come into this world! You just had to ruin my life!" Her mother began sobbing. Butterfly shook and cowered against the wall, cradling her stinging face. Joey came downstairs after hearing the screaming._

"_What the hell is going on? I'm trying to get some damn sleep!" His soulless eyes flickered over to the child he had been landed with after marrying Kenny. A child he hated more than anything. Butterfly was ready to run; she knew that Joey was going to hurt her. Joey always hurt her, sometimes with fists, sometimes with feet and sometimes with whatever he had in his hands. She turned to run when Joey gripped her by the hair and spun her around, slapping her roughly. Whimpers escaped her mouth as the slaps kept coming. She just wanted to die, just to drop dead and for all of this to end. _

"_Joey, stop!" Butterfly's mother cried as she grabbed her husband's arm. Joey released the crying little girl and smacked his wife._

'_Stop interfering! And you hit the piece of shit more than I do! You're the one that got knocked up!" Butterfly whimpered and ran, her little sore legs carrying her up the stairs into her room._

"_At least Rue could've raised her better than you!" was the last thing she heard before she closed the door and cried herself to sleep._

* * *

><p>"You didn't have to steal her bear, Mels," Matt said to his best friend as he lay on his bed playing Sonic. "It was kinda mean."<p>

Mello looked up from his textbook that he had been studying along with his notes for the past hour. Matt had to admit that Mello was quickly growing obsessed with becoming number one, while Matt really didn't care much for succeeding a man they had only met once.

"Shut up, Matt," He sighed.

"I just don't get why you hate he so much, I mean she doesn't seem too bad."

"She's him, Matt," Mello said simply, looking back down at his notes. "Just like Near, his little copy."

Matt rolled his blue eyes. "Whatever you say…"

Mello went from being depressed about the death of his parents to being flat out angry at everyone, everyone except Matt. Mello threw himself into the frenzy at Wammy's, Mello wanted to beat Near. Matt found the whole thing completely pointless and overbearing. He just wanted to make it out of here. He moved his fingers over each button on his Gameboy with ease and effortlessly cleared the next stage. _Now time for the boss…_

Matt liked video games, he always did. He guessed it was because video games took him away from the hell life was, they were a way out, a haven. _But sometimes too easy…_ Matt was glad to be out of his home, in fact he was relieved his parents burned to death.

"_Mail… come here…" his mother cried sweetly .That's when Matt knew he was in trouble and that he'd probably be waking up hours later on the floor…_

* * *

><p>Near heard Butterfly crying out in her sleep but he couldn't bring himself to wake the girl up. He figured it'd be better for him to stay out of her affairs. He placed the last piece on his airplane and he held it up proudly. He set it down gently, careful not to break off any piece of it, and reached back into the box and pulled out the pilot.<p>

The pilot had on a little helmet and wore drab colored clothes. But the smug little smile on the yellow face looked just like Near's father. Near popped the head off of the Lego man and put on a different one that he took from the body of the flight attendant. He put the figure into a sitting position and stuck him into the seat he belonged in.

The old head lay on the ground not far away and Near snuck a glance at that smug little smile.

_Near rushed into the room where the muffled screams were coming from. Mom and Danny were gone and it sounded like Gloria was in trouble. Near pushed open the door only to see his father… what was he doing? He had Gloria shoved down on the bed, both of them had no clothes on. Near was lost and scared, he had no idea what was going on here. His father's hips kept grinding, shoving his… _

_Near backed away and his father turned to look at him with that little smirk on his face._

"_Nate! Call the cops! Call Mom!" Gloria cried until Near's father covered her mouth._

"_Nate… I swear to God, if you tell anyone about this, I'll find you and you'll be next._

Near tossed the head away from him, disgusted. He swore he'd never do that to a woman.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Not much to say... But thank you for reading my little story. Please review (it helps me update faster) and i'm sorry if things were a little dim in this chapter. I'm always open to suggestions :D**


	6. Chapter 6 (Rewrite)

**:D Anyway this chapter kind of does suck... I'm suffering from writer's block but I manged to get this one out. Don't kill me D: the next one will be better**

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><p>"<em>Let me out and let me in.<br>Cause you're not alone here, not at all.  
>Let me belong here, break my fall.<br>Shelter me from this again.  
>Dedicated to the end.<br>Help my break my conscious in,  
><em>_To free us from our innocence."  
><em>**-Breaking Benjamin, Break My Fall **

It had been one month, they had been living in this place for one month yet it somehow felt longer. Mello sighed and looked back down at his desk, looking at the clean piece of wood. Near was only a few seat ahead of him and he considered throwing something at the albino but some saner part of him talked him against that. He looked back at Matt who was, unsurprisingly, playing his video games under the desk, barely paying any attention to anything around him. And beside him was the black-haired kid, Butterfly. She was staring off into space like usual, and it irked beyond anything. _She and Near… they don't even try! But they're somehow at the top! While me, I'm working myself to the brink of sanity! _He muttered darkly to himself and looked back at his desk. He'd already finished the homework assignment (but after Near) so he was left with nothing to do except keep thinking.

He was almost shaking with nervousness but he wouldn't let anyone know that he was scared. Since today was the last day of the month, everyone would be reporting to the aditorium after this class ended so the month's rankings could be announced. Mello was both excited and nervous and it made him feel sick beyond belief. He hadn't even been able to eat his breakfast or lunch for that matter and Matt was getting worried about him. _He's got nothing to worry about… after this damn assembly I'll eat… I doubt I beat Near…._ He sighed and looked back at Butterfly who was watching Matt now; her dull blue eyes peeked over at him. It wasn't in a stalker way, it was more like something was fascinating her about him. Like he was something in a museum… _Or a puzzle…_ That thought made Mello angry. He wasn't going to allow this girl to mess with Matt in any way. _She'll pay if she does._

Mello narrowed his eyes a bit trying to figure this girl out. She never spoke, never. Okay he had seen her talking to _Near_ once but that was about it. She wasn't that much younger than him but she seemed too… quiet. And that silence bothered Mello more than anything. He looked away and tapped his pencil on the desk, his eyes going to the clock on the wall. There were only five minutes until the bell would ring. A girl named Linda shot Mello a dirty look and he stopped tapping his pencil after rolling his eyes.

"No… not really," Matt said quietly from behind. Mello turned around to see him talking to _her._

_Traitor…._Mello growled silently.

"Oh…" Butterfly said. "Well it's nice that there's finally someone else who thinks that way."

Mello sighed. Great, this is exactly what he needed. That's when the bell rang and everyone immediately jumped to their feet and bolted, yes bolted, out of the door. Mello got up and turned in Matt's direction to see him bent over his Gameboy and Butterfly was still talking to him. Mello took a step towards his friend and saw Butterfly's eyes widen a bit with fear.

"Um… I'm gonna go find Near, I'll see you… later…" She said quietly to Matt and bolted away, looking for the albino who magically disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go, Matt," Mello almost growled and stomped out of the class to the auditorium.

Matt easily caught the tone in his voice. "What'd I do now?" Matt turned off the game and ran after Mello.

Mello continued walking. "Oh nothing, just talking to our number two enemy."

"_Our?_ You mean yours," Matt stated. Mello rolled his eyes.

"Whatever…" He pulled open the doors of the auditorium and sat down near the door, all the seats near the front had been quickly taken. Matt sat down next to him and flipped his Gameboy back open and began playing.

Mello rolled his eyes and focused heavily on Roger who was introducing himself and going over how "proud" he was of everyone's effort. Then the man pulled over a table with a Laptop on it with an Old-English L displayed on the screen. _L!_ He thought happily.

"Hello, children," The monotone voice said through the speakers. "I would like to congratulate you all on your work and now I will read off the rankings." Was it just him or did L almost sound saddened by that?

L began giving the last place ranking, which was 108, and working his way backwards. After what seemed like forever he reached the top ten.

"In tenth we have Kenny." The children applauded for the blonde boy who stood up when his name was called.

L continued down the list. "Fifth we have Linda." Linda stood up with her ridiculous pigtails bouncing around. _The girl has a hard-on for Near…_ Mello thought to himself amused. Linda was annoying and always fussing over Near for some reason.

"In fourth, Matt," L said just as bored as before. Matt didn't seem to notice so Mello kicked him.

"Ow! Oh… yeah…" Matt muttered and stood up, still staring down at his game and he remained there until Mello pulled him back down.

"Third in Wammy's is Butterfly," L said with slightly more emotion in his voice. The girl stood up quickly and received her applause which was just as loud as everyone else's but somehow it seemed more sinister. She sat back down quickly and went back to staring at the ground. _Wait… that means I beat her… My name hasn't been called yet!_ Mello realized happily.

"Second we have Mello," L said in a slightly warmed voice from the laptop. Mello stood up proudly, grinning at his accomplishment. The children clapped but he could feel that it was more powered by fear and envy then actual congratulations. He sat back down.

"Congrats," Matt said quietly.

"Thanks," Mello whispered back, but he already knew who number one was.

"And finally, in first we have Near," L said and the pride in his voice made Mello sick with envy. He wanted L to be proud of him one day. The children clapped a bit, but not by much they weren't surprised at all.

L finished up with his little speech and then there was a click as he turned off the transmission. Roger congratulated them half-heartedly and walked away signaling that the kids were supposed to go to their next classes.

Mello leapt up and dragged Matt along with him and he was congratulated by a few of the kids but Mello could see the hostility in their eyes. He shrugged it off though; he wasn't scared of anyone here. As he walked toward his next class he caught sight of _her. _

Mello shot her a dominating look as she caught his eye and he walked toward her. "Well, looks like I beat you."

She actually smiled and looked relieved. "Congrats, I'm relieved."

Mello was confused. She was relieved? She didn't want to succeed L? "What do you mean?"

Butterfly shrugged her shoulders. "I'm tired of the bullying, I guess. It's not worth all the pain."

Mello blinked then laughed. "That's it? You're just weak, that's why you're letting L down?"

"Mello…" Matt warned but Mello ignored him.

"I'm not weak!" She stated firmly. "I just want to belong for once. You have Matt, I have no one. And here when you're at the top they throw you to the bottom and I don't want a part in this food chain anymore."

For some reason that true answer ticked Mello off even more.

"You're going to let L down…" He muttered. "You're giving up! You're going to give up because you don't have enough willpower to take this!" He looked down at the girl who was growing angry.

"I don't want… to fail L…" She muttered quietly.

"But that's exactly what you're doing!" He yelled, attracting attention from some bystanders.

"Mello, calm down," Matt instructed. But he couldn't. This girl didn't care about L, she was selfish, she was throwing it all away because she couldn't take being picked on.

"You're just like him…" Mello hissed. "Pathetic…" Mello was expecting her to cry again because her eyes were getting watery. But he didn't have much time to react when her arm pulled back and her fist made contact with his nose. He felt a swift punch and something warm was on his face. His hands flew to his nose and he looked down at his hands which were smeared with bright blood. It stung a lot and he looked over furiously at the girl but she was already racing down the hall. Mello kept his hand over his nose and was led by Matt to the nurse's office. Mello had no idea what to say. The last thing he expected was for her to actually hit him! He was mad and a bit shocked still but he knew he couldn't hit her, she was a girl.

"Just like Near, huh?" Matt commented after a few moments of silence.

"Shut up, Matt!"

* * *

><p>Butterfly sat at her desk feeling guiltier than ever. She made Mello <em>bleed<em>! Sure he had it coming but she never expected she'd been the one to do it. Matt had came in not too long ago but Mello wasn't with him. Matt was sitting next to her like usually (most of the classes had the same seating chart) and he wasn't playing his game surprising. _I guess he does pay attention sometimes…_ She wondered how Mello was doing, how bad he was hurt. _Wait, why do I care? He's just going to make life here worse! Why did I hit him? Now I'm in it for sure!_ But her curiosity took over and she pulled out a scrap piece of paper and wrote on it.

"_How's Mello?"_ She wrote and passed the paper over to Matt. Matt looked surprised but read it over and wrote something then passed it back.

"_His nose isn't broken so he'll be fine. We'll probably hear from him at dinner."_

She took a look over at the boy in the striped shirt before writing back.

"_I'm glad, I feel really bad for hurting him."_

"_Nah, he had it coming sooner or later, I mean he was picking on you. I might've done to same."_

"_Yeah…. I'm not usually like that…."_

Matt smiled a bit. _"I know that much. You've got guts."_

She held back a laugh at that. Her? Having guts? No way! She pulled the paper over and wrote back.

"_Unless you're talking about my stomach I have no idea what you're talking about."_

Matt chuckled at that. _"Whatever you say." _

Butterfly scribbled down another message. _"Why aren't you playing a video game or something?"_

Matt cocked an eyebrow. _"You've noticed huh? Well I let Mello borrow it for now while he's with the nurse."_

That made sense. _"Oh, okay. And yeah, it's kinda obvious." _

"Butterfly," called the teacher. "You better not be passing notes over there." The teacher chuckled to himself but the girl smoothly pulled a lie.

"Of course not sir," She responded, every word sounded truthful, her face fixed in the same way it was before.

"Good."

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><p>Butterfly cradled her books against her chest as she rushed through the halls trying not to be seen. After the ranking ceremony most of the lower kids would pick on the higher kids like her. And since Butterfly wasn't well liked and had fallen to third place, she was an easy target. She was glad Mello had taken the spot of being number two. In fact she was exuberant at that fact. But she knew somehow someone was going to ruin that mood, and the person just had to be Mello. She was glad she finally had the guts to stand up to someone but still, she didn't hate Mello. In fact she envied him in a way. Mello wasn't afraid to stand up for himself or matt, for that matter, while Butterfly had only managed to remain with her eyes shut tight.<p>

She wished she had found some other way to let Mello know that she didn't want to deal with his insults today instead of socking him in the face. Mello seemed more… human than the others, more believable and more real. He seemed like someone she could easily admire. _Now that he's beat me maybe now things will start looking up…_ she tried to convince herself. But then she remembered her fist making contact with his face and the sight of the blood from his nose. She knew she was going to get it for that. Mello was going to get back at her somehow, she just knew. She was hoping for insults because if Mello hit her she knew it was going to hurt for sure. _But maybe he's against hitting girls… that's my only defense; pull the "girl" act…._ Butterfly was quickly getting sick of the monthly rankings and the constant battle for a place in the top ten. Well, it wasn't much of battle. Even though she hadn't even attempted to remain on the top she somehow ended up only dropping one place. The only bad thing about Mello taking that place was that no one was going to go after Mello, no one was that suicidal.

As he mind continued its musings, the girl managed to dodge a ball of paper tossed at her by Linda and mange to keep her pace the same.

That was until the foot shot out.

"Whoa!" she cried as she managed to catch herself with her arms.

Whoever tripped had started laughing and Butterfly's blood ran ice cold. She knew that laugh anywhere.

"Having fun?" Striker asked, towering about the little girl.

"The trip leaves something to be desired," Butterfly muttered to no one in particular. Butterfly stumbled to her feet and stared down at her books, wondering if she should bother picking them up or just make a run for it. _I'm tired of running…_

She bent down and began to collect her books. Then Linda decided to join the fun and kicked the books the little girl was grabbing. Linda didn't like butterfly in the slightest, and not just because she was number three. Linda had a crush on Near that was extremely obvious. So obvious, in fact, it was rather painful. And since Near refuse to talk to anyone except Butterfly, Linda assumed Near _liked_ his roommate. So the girl took out her frustration about this on the black-haired child.

Butterfly gritted her teeth and shot Linda a dirty look but the brunette didn't wipe that smug smile from her angel face. Striker grinned a bit, even though Linda was in fifth and Striker was in thirteenth, the two got along rather well. Butterfly gathered all her book together feeling those eyes burn holes into her back mercilessly.

"Aw, are you ready to leave so soon?" Striker taunted in that sickly sweet voice of hers. The books were knocked onto the floor again. This time Butterfly didn't bother to pick them up. She looked around franticly for anyone to help, anyone at all, but everyone was either looking the other way or at dinner.

"No one's gonna help you, shorty," Striker taunted, taking a step closer to the girl.

Butterfly glared but took a step back. Linda was beginning to look a bit worried.

"You're not gonna hurt her too bad, right? I don't want to get in trouble…" Linda worried.

"Oh come on," Striker laughed. "She won't tell anyone. Like anyone would care even if she did."

Butterfly winced as the dark-haired pre-teen shoved her against the wall. Striker pulled back her fist, complete with her painted pink nails, and Butterfly squeezed her blue eyes shut, ready for the impact. Briefly for a minute she wondered exactly what happened to Striker that got her landed here. Butterfly expected to feel the gash of pain but it never came.

Butterfly hesitantly opened one eyes to see someone had grabbed Striker's hand.

"Mello!" Butterfly exclaimed. Mello had a white pad taped to the side of his nose from his injury earlier and he looked really angry.

"That's enough," he said, his voice shaking with something other than fear.

Striker blinked and Linda was already gone, the minute she had seen Mello, she bolted the other way. Striker's soulless brown eyes flickered with something and she roughly pulled her arm away from the seven-year-old's grasp.

'Well it looks likes the _drag queen_ came to your rescue," Striker spat.

Mello's eyes became blue fire. "At least I don't need a guy saying I'm pretty to make me feel like I deserve the air I breathe," he countered, his voice leaking with venom.

Striker flinched, his words cutting deep. She narrowed those eyes and walked away, following her gang that had left her.

"Thanks, Mello," Butterfly sighed with relief.

"No problem," he said, his voice still a bit angry.

"I'm sorry I hurt you earlier,' she said sincerely as she began to gather her books and papers together.

Mello laughed a bit. "You? Hurt me? Yeah right!"

Butterfly smiled a bit. "So you're not gonna hurt me or anything?"

"I don't hit girls," Mello shrugged and touched the side of his nose.

Butterfly began walking towards the mess hall and Mello followed behind her.

"Wait… you should come sit with me and Matt today…" He looked almost as if this was killing him to ask.

"Uh, sure…" She muttered wondering what was up with his change of attitude all of a sudden. "Why the change in attitude?"

Mello shrugged. "You're not Near."

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><p>December 10th 1999<p>

"Matt, what's so great about video games?" The nine-year-old Butterfly asked her friend.

Matt shrugged, not looking up from his game. "They're fun."

Butterfly cocked her head to the side, "Don't your eyes get tired?"

Matt still keep all eyes on his game. "Not really."

Butterfly sighed and watched him play. A few years had passed since the black-haired child developed a friendship between Matt and Mello. It was a very slow progressing one at the beginning but eventually it began to blossom. Mello still continued to stand up for the girl and people began to leave her alone. In fact, her self-confidence seemed to be dramatically raised and she would stand up to anyone that ticked her off.

As the years carried on, Butterfly eventually found herself as number four at Wammy's, much to Roger's dismay. Roger had scolded her for a good twenty minutes on how she had to try her hardest to succeed L.

Butterfly felt bad for Near though. Near wasn't allowed to join in anything between the three of them; Mello said so. _Not that he wants to anyway…_ Butterfly reminded herself. Near didn't show any interest in such activities so she shouldn't feel _too_ bad for it.

Matt looked up at the black haired child after be beat the battle he was playing.

"Have you ever played one?" he asked. Butterfly shook her head. Matt gave a joking gasp. "We'll have to fix that." He pulled out a game case from under his striped shirt after making sure no one was looking.

"How's you sneak that in?" she asked after catching the rating on the game.

"Mello," Matt replied simply and no other further explanation was needed.

Butterfly laughed, understanding.

"Anyway. How about you come by mine and Mello's room at ten-thirty and I can show you how good I am." He laughed. "It'll be fun."

"Okay," Butterfly agreed. "Ten-thirty it is."

Matt nodded and slipped the original Resident Evil under his shirt and continued to play his game.

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><p><strong>AN: I do not Own Death Note, Pokemon or Resident Evil! I do own Butterfly however. Please review and if you do... uh... I'll send you your choice of Matt or Mello! Naked! Ha!**

**Mello: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes, I am once again Debra Dreamer again because no one knew who I was x'D OH well…. It's an awesome name for an awesome me and I just said awesome three times in the same sentence. Millions of thanks to my lovely reviewers~ You guys make me feel special ^^ I do not own Death Note or Resident Evil *is sad* But I do own Butterfly and this idea. Yay me! *cough* Vell, he we go. **

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><p>"<em>'Cause we're all a bunch of animals,<br>That never paid attention in school.  
>So tell <em>me_ all about your problems,  
>I was killin' before killin' was cool.<br>You're so cool; you're so cool, so cool!"_

**-My Chemical Romance, Kill all Your Friends**

One of the sad things at Wammy's was the fact that some of the strictest rules were the easiest to break without being caught. Maybe it was set up to be that way, just another skill to teach the children. Maybe L thought that if the actions that were a definite "no" were done that maybe it would teach the children how to lie.

Butterfly had already tucked her spare blanket under her main blanket on her bed in the shape of a nine-year-old girl fast asleep. To keep things from looking to suspicious, she tucked Baby next to the humanoid shaped blanket and made sure the dog/bear's ears poked up from under the purple comforter. She took a step back to admire her work. In the dark it looked like the blankets could be a young, nine-year-old trying to get some well needed sleep, in fact, she was sure it would completely fool Roger just in case he decided to double check the rooms.

Roger always checked every individual room at ten o'clock sharp to make sure all the children were in their rooms, which was one of the most important rules at Wammy's. Children were forbidden to be anywhere else unless they had a pass from him or had to urgently use the restroom. After he made his rounds he would retreat to his office for the night and one of the teachers would check to make sure all the lights were out at eleven o'clock. Of course the children would often find ways around this and would sneak into each other's rooms and play or engage in activity powered by hormones.

Butterfly looked at a digital clock on Near's dresser to see that it was ten twenty. Near was on the floor putting together a puzzle. The box said it had a thousand pieces and once finished it would look like the Eiffel Tower.

"Well, Near, I should probably get going," She said to the eight-year-old albino.

"I thought it was against the rules to be out of your room so late," Near said in a monotone, referring to a few years ago when Butterfly would never dream of breaking a single rule. Well, until she met Matt and Mello that was. Near seemed slightly disturbed about the girl's eventual change in attitude but, then again, he seemed that way about everything.

She laughed a bit; her laugh was rather strange, more like a loud giggle. "Near, all rules are meant to be broken."

"Perhaps," Near stated, pushing another puzzle piece into place with his finger. "But that logic may also turn you into a criminal." He was probably joking because that slightly amused tone appeared in his voice.

Butterfly rolled her eyes and smiled at the younger child. "Possibly, but I thought we agreed we'd solve the greatest cases in the world together when we grew up."

Near looked up at the black-haired child for a moment before looking back down on his puzzle, pushing a sky piece into its proper location. "Yes, and I will be holding that agreement against you to the very end." A sweet but slightly mischievous grin played on his lips and vanished as quickly as it appeared. In fact, it vanished so quickly Butterfly couldn't help but wonder if it was there in the first place. She shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind being a great detective one day, but you know I'm no longer number two, or three for that matter."

Near kept looking down. "Are you suggesting I work with Mello?"

"No, of course not," She shook her head. "I'm just saying won't you be embarrassed about working with number four at instead?" She kept the tone light, like it was no more than a joke but in reality it had some truth to it. She remembered being eight years old and asking Near if they really were friends. And, in return, Near had merely stated that when he became the one to succeed L that the two of them would work together to tackle the mysteries casing no one could solve. She had smiled and accepted, not caring that the albino didn't give a straight answer either way.

Now she looked at her roommate and turned to the door. "Goodnight, Near," She gave a little wave as she reached the door, not bothering to hear the answer to a question he didn't want to answer.

"Goodnight," the white-haired child said back as he continued adding pieces to his puzzle.

Butterfly slowly pulled open the door and stared down the hall, making sure no one was going to see her and she took her first tip-toe of a step trying not to step on that board that always made a funny noise. Taking a deep breath she continued walking at a more normal pace, trying to avoid making too much noise. _So far so good…_ She took another step and flinched as the board creaked loudly. Her entire body froze and she could hear her heart thumping loudly in her ears. She stayed in that position for a few more moments before she started walking to Matt and Mello's room. _Look at me… scared like a little bunny. What's the worst that could happen? I get caught and get detention again? _She scolded herself mentally. She knew a few kids would be up in the library studying because there were going to be some test the next day. Butterfly really didn't worry about it too much because she never studied and somehow always managed to score high marks. _Sort of like how Near and Matt work…_ But Mello, Mello was probably studying himself into sanity, that's just how the boy worked. It sometimes worried Butterfly just how hard the blonde would push himself hoping to get a higher grade than Near once. Even when Mello scored a perfect score, Near always had done some extra-credit assignment the night before.

Butterfly soon found herself standing in front of the wooden door that had a little white board on it that said in red "Mello and Matt" and someone had drawn a bar of chocolate and a game controller near the names. _Probably Linda, no doubt…._ She took a deep breath and began to wonder why exactly she was so darn nervous about this. _Me and Matt hang out all the time… this is nothing new…_ She decided she was so nervous because it was past curfew and that she was breaking at least three of Wammy's rules right now just to play a video game. She lightly tapped the door and it pulled open instantly which caught her off guard causing her to almost fall into Matt.

"Sorry," She whispered to the goggle-wearing child who had stumbled back as she came stumbling in.

"It's 'kay," He chirped and dramatically checked the halls to make sure no one was looking. He pushed open the door a bit more and stepped aside to give her room to enter. "Come on in." She nodded and stepped into the room, all lights off, of course. It was extremely easy to tell which side of the room belonged to whom.

One side had an old television with a gaming system hooked up to the back and a tangled mass of controllers along with it. A few cases that looked like game cases lay scattered around it, all snapped securely shut however. The bed was made, surprisingly, but some clothes lay unkempt on the floor. Butterfly wasn't one to be a fusser over cleaning but she knew that Roger would have a heart attack if he saw this. The other side of the room was just as equally unorganized but seemed slightly neater. All the clothes were put away and the bed was nicely made but there was a flaw however. The desk by the window was covered with papers and textbooks and notebooks galore. Notes were stacked on one side, a textbook lay open on its back and pencils and pen were tucked in between pages and snug in the spiral cages of notebooks.

In order to keep herself from making a rather rude remark about the cleanliness of this room she asked. "Where's Mello?"

Matt sat down in front of the old TV before answering. He's studying in the library like the workaholic he is."

"Ah, well, that's Mello," She sat down next to Matt who was now leaning forward and pushing the button on the gaming system that caused the disk drawer to open, ready to swallow the game that was placed inside.

"How are your classes?" She asked the first thing that crept into her mind due to the awkward silence that was forming.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "My classes? Well… they're okay, I mean I hate studying but I still get my marks…" It seemed like the question disturbed him. He opened the case that had the fancy artwork of a zombie on it and set the disk into the system labeled "Playstation" and sat back with the controller loose in his hand.

"It's a single player game but we can take turns dying…" He explained. "You can go first but I'll show you how to controller your character."

"Alright," a smile played on her chapped lips. "Just don't get too scared."

Matt laughed and scooted a bit closer to his friend. "Me? Ha, video games don't scare me. Nothing scares me."

"Right…."

He focused his attention on the TV which was displaying the opening for the game as a man, presumably was walking until something came closer, and closer, and closer…

"AAARGH!" The man screamed as he was attacked causing Matt to jump a bit at the sudden noise that broke the silence between the two children.

"Not scared of anything?" Butterfly taunted as she smiled, her mental point proven.

The embarrassed blush on Matt's face was hidden by the darkness of the room. "It just caught me off guard, that's all," He explained, a cocky smile on his face. Butterfly laughed a bit and crossed her legs like she usually did.

As the game started, they watched the clips in that beginning and they both had to agree that the voices were so cheesy, it was pitiful. [1]

"'Stop! Don't open that door,'" Butterfly mocked in a low gruff voice.

"'But Chris is-,'" Matt responded in an overly sing-song, high pitched voice and they both erupted into fits of giggles. [2]

After the joking was put aside Matt explained the basic controls to Butterfly and helped her until the girl could mange by herself. The zombies didn't look very real and the game was actually pretty much just down to puzzles. After butterfly was killed by a stray zombie dog Matt took over the controls and got pretty far until he too died. The zombies, the dogs, the plants, and crows weren't that scary, in fact it was the last thing they feared but there was on thing that had them both shivering. The suspense. Throughout the game you just walked down the decorated halls of the old mansion you could hear the groaning and the moaning of the undead. You didn't know what door they were behind, you could only hear them as they scuffled around looking for your character. The music was really creepy too. Hours passed and eventually the creatures they fought got creepier, and so did the music.

Shivers ran down both of them as Matt slowly turned off the game after saving.

"It's….twelve," He stated as he looked at the clock. "You should probably…"

"Oh, yeah, right," She stood up on her legs that had fallen asleep and she winced and almost laughed at the fuzzy feeling in her legs. She walked over to the door and matt followed her and held it open for her.

"That was fun," he said with a smile. "You should come over again one time so we can finish it… but we'll keep the lights on next time…"

She laughed nervously as she scanned the empty, dark hallways of Wammy's. "Just because you almost wet yourself doesn't mean I did."

Matt smirked. "You're the girl, I'm just trying to keep you from getting freaked out. I wasn't scared at all."

"Pfft," She scoffed, "Yeah right, like I was scared!"

That's when they heard the distressed moan from down the hall, echoing off the walls. The both jumped and froze as the noise continued.

"Ughhhhh…. Mmhhgggggg," The deathly wails continued. They both exchanged a horrified look and in the black of night the hall's of Wammy's looked much like the zombie infested halls of the Spencer Estate [3].

"H-hey, Matt… mind if I stay with you tonight…? Please…?" She shivered; fear alit in her blue eyes.

Matt looked down at her, glad his goggles covered up his eyes so she wouldn't see how scared he really was. "Yeah," He forced his voice not to shake. "No problem…." He grabbed her arm just as another moan bounce around them, this one closer than the last. He yanked her inside the room and closed the door.

'What if they got Mello?" She asked, mentally frowning at how worried she was.

"Well…erm… I'd like to see a zombie try to take Mello down," He laughed nervously. "I highly doubt anyone could, I mean, that's just how Mello is." Matt really did think highly of Mello, to him nothing could touch his friend.

"But what if they catch him by surprise?" She asked paranoid.

Matt just shook his head.

* * *

><p>Little did they know, Mello was silently laughing himself silly not too far away from the door. He grinned at the memory of seeing those two jump as he made those noises from down the hall. <em>I must be pretty good. Who knew that walking by Striker's room at twelve would actually do some good. <em>He had finished his studying but he was sure that Near would beat him again. As that thought ran by him he lost all the amusement with his prank. _What's the point of even trying so hard if Near always wins? Wait, what am I saying? I __**Will**__ beat him… I will win one day, I swear. _A scowl appeared on the Blonde's face and he took a bite of his chocolate bar, snapping o a corner of it with his teeth with a satisfying _crunch. _

He yawned and made his way to his room and yanked the door open. His books and notebooks were set on top of the mess on his desk, a few broken pencils clattered to the wood surface, and he looked over at Matt's side of the room. _If I had a camera…._ He grinned at the sight of Matt huddled in his bed, looking like he was having terrible nightmares and also in his bed was a very scared looking Butterfly clinging onto a pillow fast asleep. Mello had to admit he felt kind of bad for giving them nightmares but the sight of them terrified in that bed together made him smirk a bit.

Butterfly made a small noise and rolled over so that her face was facing Matt's and Mello realized Matt forgot to take his goggles off, or his shoes for that matter. Grumbling, Mello walked over to his friend and pulled off the auburn –haired child's shoes one by one then pulled off his goggles and hung them on the bedpost like they usually were. Matt looked so young without those goggles, it was almost shocking. Mello sighed and moved over to Butterfly, not surprised to see that her shoes and one of her socks were missing. Mello rolled his eyes and pulled the blanket over them before making his way over to his own bed.

"G'night guys," He mumbled as he slipped under the blankets and eventually got his mind to calm down enough to allow him to fall asleep. He dreamt of chocolate and the day that he would finally top that damn albino.

* * *

><p>L chewed the piece of cake he had just put in his mouth as he stared at the computer screen in front of him. He'd been at this all day, restlessly searching for that one man. His eyes narrowed a bit and his fork impaled the cake once again and brought the sweet treasure into his mouth. After swallowing he brought his thumb to his lip as he read over a murder report he had been sent. <em>Nothing too suspicious that would give his identity away but I can't overlook anything… Where is he… He said there would be a challenge for me… Maybe it's possible that he's leading me on a wild-goose chase right now… that he's leading me around the globe… <em>

"Perhaps," L said aloud and bit another piece of cake, his onyx eyes staring the computer down with that bored but passionate intensity they radiated. Then the screen turned into a video of the old man L had grown to respect.

"L," the man addressed.

"Yes, Watari?" L asked, picking at another piece of cake.

"I've just received an Email directed to you," Watari explained. "Would you like me to forward it?"

_Directed towards me…_

"Yes, of course," L replied in his monotone. "Thank you Watari." The man nodded and after a few moments the screen went black and received the message Watari had mention.

L's eyes scanned over it with interest and his thumb pulled at his message was =only one sentence long, only three words, but that one sentence was enough to spark his interest. It wasn't signed but L knew who had sent it right away.

**Where is she?**

L typed back, his two pointer fingers hitting each button at a rapid pace. After his one word reply was typed he pressed "send" and stared at the computer with interest.

**Winchester. **

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay! It's finally done :D**

**[1] Resident Evil: Director's Cut. The voice acting is hilarious! :D**

**[2] The funniest line throughout the game if you ask me.**

**[3] Manision the game takes place in. Yes, this game still creeps me out D: But it's just the suspense eats at me. **

**Matt: So yeah… review and stuff… *goes back to playing a video game in the corner* **


	8. Chapter 8

_"Saw Cinderella in a party dress,  
>She was looking for a nightgown.<br>I saw the devil wrapping up his hands,  
>He's getting ready for the showdown.<br>I saw the minute that I turned away  
>I got my money on a pawn tonight"<em>  
>-The Killers, a Dustland Fairytale.<p>

Birthdays were usually a golden ray of sunlight in a child's life, a happy, hope filled day that marked the beginning of a new era in a child's life. In Wammy's House, birthdays were never publicly made known nor were they really celebrated by the adults that took care of Wammy's. The children, however, would often celebrate each other's birthdays and throw small little parties and give gifts to each other and try to enjoy the occasion.

It was on Mello's tenth birthday that he decided that he was going to have a little party, not a big one, but a special gathering for Wammy's number two student on the day he was going double-digits. Matt and Butterfly were typically invited along with a few others from the orphanage that Mello could tolerate. And there weren't many he could tolerate, mind you. Mello thought that the event would most likely bring in plenty of chocolate for him to enjoy, since it wasn't much of a mystery to figure out that the blond boy cared greatly for the sweet, and he seemed rather content with that fact.

"Hey, Mello?" Matt asked, pressing the buttons on his Game boy with ease. "How's this party gonna go, I mean, what are we gonna do besides sit around and watch you eat chocolate?"

The blond boy set down his pencil and looked over at the brunette. "Well, I guess we could always play games or something…"

"I like games," Matt said simply, tapping the A button intently to make his character jump. "I remember parties I used to go to when I was younger… we did stuff like play pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs and-."

"We're not babies Matt," Mello rolled his blue orbs. "We need to do something for kids our age." Mello knew that he was only ten and considered nothing more than a child in the eyes of many. But, their mental ages were rather high, giving them the air of at least a fourteen year old, give or take a year.

Matt looked slightly offended that Mello tossed out his ideas like that but managed to keep his neutral façade. "Yeah… so what do you recommend we play?"

Mello absentmindedly tapped a blue pen against the side of his desk, the sound mixing in with the beeping from Matt's game. "Well, there's always that game the older kids play…"

"Which one?" Matt asked, his voice drained and uninterested. Sometimes he just spoke to keep Mello happy.

"I know what we're going to play." And why not play a prank on Matt while he was at it?

* * *

><p>Growing up, Butterfly never really had many friends back at her home, so she had never been to a birthday party before. She supposed that most parties would be like how this one was. Children ran around, chasing each other, playing tag, some were hide and go seeking, while other just appeared to be joking around with Mello. Mello was somewhat of a popular character due to the fact that many admired him and envied him greatly. Yet, he pretty much despised them in some way, butterfly just supposed that he put up with them, as if they were just unruly children that one couldn't punish and simply had to deal with. In Mello's mindset, hanging out with these kids was nothing more than a homework assignment, a way to teach him how to deal with people. Another numberless test in this school of puzzles.<p>

Lately, Butterfly had found a certain taste for button up plaid shirts. So, typically, she was dressed in one, the size much too large and sagging over her body, making her look smaller than she really was. Her blue orbs scanned the room for Matt, looking for some company. Like usual, he was sitting in a corner, goggles alive with the glow of the little gaming system he held in his hands, the beeping and booping emitting from the speakers. The boy was sitting close enough to Mello that he could pay attention to the conversation that Mello and the other boys were having and yet remain not a part of it. Working up the courage that had suddenly left her, Butterfly strolled over to the brunette gamer with a slightly slower pace. To be honest, she wasn't sure why she was taking her sweet time, or why she had been so nervous around her friend lately. It was a mystery the kid genius just couldn't decode. Butterfly walked past all the racing children and the long banner Linda had made that said "Happy Birthday Mello" painted on it in big, bold orange letters. Linda seemed to be able to tolerate Mello and Matt though she still held a silent grudge against Butterfly that Butterfly still found absolutely ridiculous.

"Hey Matt," she called to her gamer friend. Matt's goggles peeked up at her from his game and his lips tugged into a small half smile.

"Hey Butterfly," he nodded and swiftly saved his game before continuing to play. Butterfly gave a small scan of the room before taking her usual place next to Matt on the floor. The two of them were used to this set-up and Matt almost always saved a bit of room whenever he sat down out of reflex. He was more than used to the blue-eyed girl peeking over his shoulders at his latest video game adventure. It was a simple yet beautiful friendship in Matt's opinion. She intently watched him slay a few monsters before striking up conversation. Butterfly was well accustomed to silence due to her close friendship with Near but she liked having conversation that didn't suddenly turn into a rant like it often did with Mello. Matt, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with silence, he liked it but he didn't mind talking either. So he was okay with silence and didn't find it the tiniest bit daunting.

"So," she said in a hushed voice, "did you do anything for Mello on his birthday?"

Matt gave another killing blow to a pixilated demon. "Yeah, chocolate and help on his computer class homework." When it came to studies, Mello topped Matt in all, well, all but the computer courses; those were where Matt truly shined.

"Ah," she noted. "I bet he'll be sugar high for the next month."

"Mello sugar high…" Matt said, trailing his words off in thought. "Now there's something I'd like to see, he always acts like he's Roger or something…" Butterfly suddenly had a mental image of Mello running around in a tutu screaming out poetry verses, a half eaten chocolate bar in one hand and a toy sheep in the other. It caused her to giggle and find the idea absolutely amazing. Matt cocked an eyebrow at her sudden laughter but merely shrugged it off and continued fighting with his pixels.

"I got him some chocolate… and I returned that hairbrush I stole from him a year and a half ago."

"The one with the sparkles?" Matt chuckled.

"Oh yes," she giggled, referring to the time she swiped a plain black comb that Mello used to brush out is hair in the morning and put glitter all over it. Mello being Mello, blamed Near for the sudden loss and would now be finding the lost object completely glitter-fyed in the bottom of the gift bag from her.

She'd be getting an earful for sure for that.

Matt's smile widened and he switched off the videogame after saving the rest of his progress.

"Hey, Matt, get over here," Mello called out with a tug of his head. "You too, Butterfly."

Matt and Butterfly exchanged a small glance before decided to obey the usually moody blond. Matt got up and slipped his game into the back pocket of his pants and he held a hand out to the still sitting, black-haired girl. Butterfly gave a cute smile and took his hand, finger curling around his palm. Yanking her to her feet, Matt then smiled back, a very light, dusty blush on his face. Their hands hesitated in releasing by a few seconds until they finally let go and dropped their arm to their sides. Not wanting to face a ticked off Mello, they headed over to the birthday boy, who was waiting with his slim arms crossed and his bare foot tapping against the polished floor.

"'bout time you got here," Mello said in a mocking voice. He was in one of those rare spells of cheerfulness that never seemed to last well.

"Yeah, yeah," Matt rolled his blue orbs. "So, whatcha want?"

Mello stretched his arms and pointed to one of the hallway closets. "There's a few boxes in there I need you two to get me."

"Kay," Matt chirped.

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Butterfly asked a tad bit annoyed. Most of the time Matt just did whatever Mello told him to, much like a loyal dog.

"Because, it's my birthday and there's only two boxes so I figured that you and Matt could each carry one and get it done faster so you two can go back to being, well, you and being all gushy in a corner somewhere," he explained in a slight monotone, obliviously not wanting to go through the explaining process. Mello lacked one key thing; patience.

"Whatever," Butterfly grumbled. "When I turn ten, you better do whatever I tell you to."

Mello snorted. "Good luck with that…"

Before Butterfly could counter, Matt grabbed the plaid sleeve of her shirt and tugged her over to the closet, Mello watching slightly amused.

The closet door was yanked open by Butterfly and Matt went in first, Butterfly following in tow.

"So, where are the boxes Mello?" Matt asked. "There's a lot of 'em in here…"

"The one on the right wall," Mello said from outside the door.

"This on-," Butterfly began. But before she could finish, Mello slammed the door shut, the sound followed by the sound of the lock on the outside of the door being clicked shut.

* * *

><p>"Well, this sucks…" Matt grumbled, sitting on the floor with Butterfly. They had given up on pounding on the door once Mello claimed that this was just a game and that he'd let them out in ten minutes. That was six minutes ago.<p>

"No duh…" Butterfly grumbled, her pupils trying to get adjusted to the dim lighting in the room. She could only see the faint outline of Matt's body. Blindly, she put her arm out in front of her, seeing if she could come in contact with him. All her fingers touched was air so she got up on her knees and reached further out, wobbling slightly. "I'm trying to find you," she explained, leaning forward, fingers trying to touch something.

"Ah, well I think you're close," Matt noted. "Though it's hard to tell since it's so da-." But he never got to finish his sentence as Butterfly lost her balance suddenly and crashed into Matt, knocking him down on his back, her form on top of him, noses inches apart.

"Aha…" She laughed embarrassed. "I found you…" She thanked the heavens that it was dark so her vivid, heated blush was hidden. Matt was equally flushed and he also gave a nervous laugh, his face fifty shades of red.

"Yup, you sure did," he chuckled.

For a moment they remained like that, awkward and nervously chuckling and embarrassed. Without any warning to Butterfly or himself, Matt found himself leaning in a bit, like they did in the movies, and very lightly pecked Butterfly's lips with his own. Just a peck. He was honestly surprised that he managed to reach her lips due to the fact that he couldn't see. He supposed it just must have been instinct.

But after that one single peck, everything began to change.

* * *

><p>Beyond Birthday gave a curt nod to the house that he had been raised in; Wammy's House, as he sat himself down on one of the old swings outside. They were the exact same swings from when he was a boy but they had been nicely maintained throughout the years. He thought it was very courteous of them to do that. He found a position that suited him and he cradled the jar of jam in his lap, unscrewing the lip and scooping out the substance with his fingers, shoveling the sweetness into his mouth. He knew that fate would be working in his favor.<p>

Beyond Birthday knew a thing about fate.

This encounter just had to happen or else he would have failed.

And Beyond Birthday never failed.


	9. Chapter 9

"All we are and all we want

Forty years come and gone

All we are in photographs

Can never be taken"

-The Fray, Absolute

Beyond Birthday had almost everything planned out, almost everything was down to each tiny detail. Wringing his hands, which still were coated in a bit of red from either his jam or his last kill, he stared at the lit windows of Wammy's House, watching silhouettes of children dance by them, a shadow in the light. Their lives twirled before his very eyes as he caught glimpses of their remaining life spans. It was a horrible kind of beauty. But he was not trying to occupy his mind with the notion of these, normal, cursed genius children. Oh no, Beyond Birthday was looking for something else, someone special. Though the orphanage was pretty far away, his amazing eyesight could see many things, his eyesight could easily rival an eagle's. His raven black hair was being whipped around by the wind, the swing he was perched on making small creaks as well. He wondered briefly if everything would go as planned, that fate would work its way into his hands.

_It must…_ He thought, scooping up another handful of jam and munching on the sweet substance. _It must happen now or it never will… _

And suddenly, all his hopes were proven true as he caught a glimpse of a young girl peeking out at him with wide blue orbs, her lips set into a puzzled frown.

* * *

><p>Butterfly let out a large sigh of relief once Mello finally let her and Matt out of the closet. Both children had stumbled out with large, red blushes on their faces and Mello had been wearing a triumphant smirk and asked them if they "did it" or whatever that meant. Flattening out her clothes, Butterfly decided to take a little break, allowing Matt and Mello to spend some time to talk about boy stuff. Butterfly may have been a Tomboyish girl but there were some things that she couldn't understand about boys. That irksome red tint to her cheeks was finally starting to fade, for which she was grateful. The moon was bright, or at least it had been before the clouds had strolled past it, covering it in a milky veil, and giving the sky an eerie shine. Stars twinkled in the places they were visible, stars that she used to spend a long time counting as a child. Wasn't she still a child? Sometimes it didn't feel that way.<p>

But there was something off about this picture, but it was the strange feature that seemed to enhance the eerie mood outside. Sitting in a swing was a lone man, and he seemed to be staring directly at her. No, directly through her. But there was something about him, something that told her to go outside and talk to him. Though she really wasn't sure if there was anything logical at all behind those feelings. _Feelings are never logical _she reminded herself with a bit of a smile before turning away from the window and walking down the hall. Children were not forbidden to enter the yards at night, as long as it was not past curfew. This rule, however, was one of L's rules, the rules that L deemed to be worthy, not the rules Roger approved of.

Slipping on a red jacket, Butterfly opened the door that led to the back yards and stepped out in the chilly air. Her feet curled in protest of the cold, one foot still clothed in nothing. So before she was able to shut the door, she took a step back inside and slipped on a pair of boots by the door. They were large boots, much too large for her, but she did not care. Frightened that if she went all the way to her room to get her boots her finding would be gone already, she decided to put up with them.

With awkward steps, she walked through the snow covered yard to where the swings were. The footprints trailing behind her were large and un-proportional for such a small girl, but she was focused less on tripping and more on the strange figure.

But when she reached where he had been sitting, not a single soul was there. Her heart fell as the sight of the swing moving back and forth in the wind without a rider. A shiver coursed down her spine as she realized she was out here for nothing.

"Good day," a voice chimed in from behind her. Every hair on the back of her neck prickled and she spun around to face the spitting image of L. Only this was not L, that much was obvious. There was something about this man that was not L-ish. Her pulse was racing as her brain tried to come up with some reasoning, but her brain seemed to hold no such thing anymore. "You don't remember me? That's very tragic…" The man walked past her and sat himself down on the swing, studying her.

"W-who are you?" she wrestled out, still nervous.

"Rue," he said simply, as if that one word could answer all of her questions.

"Rue..?" she repeated the word as if it would help her understand this. But then something clicked as his dark eyes trailed up to hers. The dark orbs flashed red once, and a small smile spread across his face.

"Y-You…" her voice suddenly sounded young and small. Images of being in her backyard played in her mind. The image of a man walking out of the shadows was the most prominent. A memory of being handed a small bear also appeared among the memories laced with the scent of strawberries. A smile broke out on her face.

"You're my father, aren't you?" she asked suddenly.

Rue grinned, as if that was what he wanted to hear. "Yes, your real father." Unable to contain herself, Butterfly through her arms around Rue and gave him a hug, well, she gave him some form of a huge since he was perched on a swing. Rue hugged back to the best of his ability, though it was more awkward for him; he let go first. Butterfly pulled back, her smile still alive.

"How did you find me?"

Rue shrugged. "It was rather easy, a little bird whispered in my ear." Butterfly was suddenly acting like a normal nine-year-old.

"Where did you and mom meet? Why did you leave us? Wh-," She babbled out questions so fast that it was a miracle that Rue was able to pull them apart.

"One at a time… now let's see… I met Kenny about a year before you were born, in LA. She was a nice woman… I met her while I was killing the man she had been dating at time." Butterfly wavered slightly at the word "killing". "But instead of being horrified, she seemed grateful which was very curious…" he placed his thumb in his mouth much like how L would while thinking. "I suppose it was dating though I am not sure exactly how to relate to people. I had intercourse with her once, during which you were conceived." Some of the things he was saying would not make sense until a bit of time after. "But I left her once I realized I would not make a good father. Though raising a young homosapien seemed like an interesting experience…"

Butterfly had to force these next words out. "K-killed?"

"Yes," Rue said matter-o-factly and rather bluntly as if this were the most normal thing a human could talk about. Butterfly was too stumped to ask more about that. Rue just went back to examining her like a painting.

"How long are you staying…?" she asked, trying not to sound daunted by the words he had just said.

"Do you want me to depart?" Rue questioned in a monotone.

"N-No, of course not, you are my dad… Well, what should I call you…?"

"Father… Rue…" he grinned. "Or you can call me Rue-Rue like your dear mother." He laughed once, the sound was dark and sounded like something that a god of death would make.

"I'll call you Rue then," she grinned slightly, finding his laugh amusing.

"Alright my dear… but I'm afraid we must depart soon," he mused, staring up at the sky, dismounting the swing.

"Oh… will I ever see you again?"

"No," he said with a cracked smile. "Fate will not allow it." And with that he leapt up the fence, waving at her once before disappearing over the other side.

"What a strange man…" she muttered, a smile over her lips. "Then again… he is my dad."

* * *

><p>Beyond Birthday watched as his daughter stared at the swing where he had been sitting at previously. She was interesting, he noted, though he knew he would never be able to see her again.<p>

"Butterfly," a voice called from Wammy's. Both Beyond and Butterfly looked over to where a boy with a striped shirt was making his way over to her.

"Hey Matt," Butterfly called back, walking through the snow clumsily, her smile suddenly bright. The rest of their words were lost to him but he was able to see as the boy, Mail Jeevas, took the girl's hand in his and they made their way back into the orphanage.

But Beyond couldn't help but frown at the numbers above each child's head.

Beyond Birthday knew a lot about fate, though sometimes he couldn't help but hate it.


	10. Chapter 10

"_I'm coming out of my cage  
>And I've been doing just fine<br>Gotta, gotta be down  
>Because I want it all<br>It started out with a kiss  
>How did it end up like this?<br>It was only a kiss"_  
>-the Killers, Mr. Brightside<p>

Time. Time is something that every human being can frown at and detest. Everyone can stare at a clock and watch the numbers sluggishly tick by in a classroom. Mentally, they groan and moan at how slow time is. Or maybe, someone looks at time frowning at how little time they had been issued to accomplish something. Even the hourglass which represents someone's time on Earth can cause someone to hate time with all they have in them. But people seem not to grasp the concept of how fast time actually goes by at all times. In the eyes of something, say a… god of death… time flies by them at speeds that could give a human motion sickness.  
>Time is sacred and should not be wasted.<p>

Time will slip through someone's fingers as the gears of fate slowly crank, turn, and groan along to the sound of time slipping by…

March 20, 2003

"Well, you're finally thirteen," Mello remarked, looking up at Butterfly with his blue orbs. The black-haired girl looked back at the blond, rolling her eyes and stuck out her pink tongue.

"Mello, my birthday was awhile ago," she complained, popping a red jellybean in between her eager lips. "And you're just now noticing this? Some genius you are." Mello, Matt, and Butterfly were all now at the age of thirteen, their life easily slipping past them without them noticing. Matt and Mello had both hit growth spurts, their new heights favoring them greatly. The boys' voices had also dropped a few octaves, which Butterfly found very humorous and loved to tease them about.

"Shut up, just making sure I have right since you're so short," he teased, snapping off a piece of chocolate in between his teeth which a noticeable snap. "You still look like a a kid." The black-haired teen had to admit that that was really starting to push he buttons in all the wrong places.

"I'm not that short," she growled, the sound was actually slightly threatening. But Mello was never one to be easily wavered by the forming young girl. Butterfly had been going through some physical and mental changes, all of which she found very unappealing and or annoying. The one thing she hated the most however was her forming chest which she thought was nothing more than a burden.

How was she supposed to rough house with the boys now that she had a weakness? Mello had already socked her one in her chest area and it hurt way too much for her to be comfortable. The girl was used to being almost weakness free because she knew that she could always use Mello's masculine weakness against him when they decided to throw a few punches at each other. But now the blond boy finally had something that he could use against her.

"Jeez you guys…" Matt trailed off, staring down at his video game. "Just give it a rest; you're always at each other."

"Sorry Matt," Butterfly apologized, trying not to upset another one of her good friends. Though it would be wrong to say that Butterfly did not enjoy teasing her good friends, Matt was a special topic when it came to teasing. Sure, she would poke fun at him here and there, but usually she tried to keep things as friendly between them as possible.

Then there was Mello. Mello was a fun person to kid around with, well, when he wasn't studying or doing homework, that is. Woe to anyone that would even think about trying to make fun of the blond when he was studying (which was most of the time), for Mello could be wrathful and full of attitude and violence in a split second.

And what about Butterfly's first dear friend, Near? Well, Butterfly still spent a lot of time watching Near work with his puzzles which progressively got more and more complicated as he grew older. But still, the conversations they would sometimes have seemed emotionally one sided, almost as if the albino would rather not be active in a conversation. But Butterfly wanted to be close with Near; she still considered him her best friend. But sometimes she would have to admit that she could get a smile out of the boy. A smile; never a laugh. But that was okay because Near was Near and the closest to reaching the goal of succeeding L. The closet one to succeeding in anything really.

As that thought crossed her mind, Butterfly strolled over to where Matt was and sat herself down beside the boy, her thoughts racing. Mello had given up the fight to head to the library and get in some quality study time. She wondered if it were even possible for the rest of them to give up with a normal life. What would become of them after Near or Mello stole the title of L? They would have to leave the orphanage eventually. But what would they do with their lives? Society never really had a place for the children who couldn't play by the rules and she wondered if Near was right about her logic turning her into a criminal. She was a genius and perhaps even a liar. But who could blame her? Here in Wammy's, lying was a common thing; it was never frowned upon. In fact, lying was encouraged by the power behind Wammy's; L. It was funny how that one little letter held so much power over the children who ran up and down the halls. L's laws were the only laws they wanted to follow.

The only laws they had to follow to be successful.

"Butterfly, you okay?" Matt asked, bringing Butterfly back to the reality of Mello and Matt's room.

"Oh, yeah," she responded, her brain tucking the musings of L's laws deep into the crevices of her brain. "Sorry, I was zoning out again. Did you say something?"

"I said I was going out for a smoke and wanted to know if you wanted to come with me," he repeated himself, saving his game and sliding the portable device into one of his pockets. It was no secret amongst Matt, Mello, and Butterfly that Matt was a smoker even though he was still at a young age. Just as Mello had his chocolate addiction, Matt had his nicotine addiction. The black-haired girl shoved her bag of red jellybeans into her back pocket, parts of the plastic bag still visible.

"Sure," she responded, enjoying the idea of getting to go outside even though she could hear the rain tapping against the glass in a soft pattern.  
>Matt cracked a smile that Butterfly thought was cute as he walked over the window in his and Mello's room, swiftly unlocking the two little locks above the bottom window. With another quick motion, he yanked up the bottom window so that they had an escape route out of the room. "Ladies first?" he asked, smiling at her with some emotion she couldn't understand.<p>

"Of course," she remarked, walking over towards the window and the brunette boy. She hopped up onto the sill of the window, spun around so that her bent legs were now sticking out of the window, and pulled the rest of her body out as well. The raindrops dripped onto her face which caused her to blink away a few droplets in response. The girl spun around to face Matt who was now popping out of the window and joining her. The grounds at Wammy's were completely empty and muddy which meant that they probably wouldn't get caught. The duo inched along the side of the building until they reached Matt's smoker spot: a place where the building turned into a hallway which leaved a nice open space that was about the same shape as a small "U". It was even better due to the fact that parts of it were sheltered by the way the roof was set up so that they would remain dry.

They both walked into the area until they were both covered by the roof. All was silent as Matt fished around his pockets and pulled out a green lighter and a small tin box that held the cigarettes he would pick pocket from some of the teachers that smoked. Ever so carefully, the boy placed the cancer stick in between his lips and cupped one hand around it to protect it from the wind. The lighter was brought next to the white stick and after a few grating sounds, he succeeded in getting a spark which lit up the stick. He slid the lighter back into his pocket and took a long drag, pulling the cig out of his mouth to exhale the smoke. Butterfly was used to all these motions, but she couldn't help but study him as he made all these moves.

Matt was quiet like usual, his main focus was getting his refreshment of nicotine.

"Hey, Matt...?" the teen asked quietly, staring at the gray sky with some longing. The blue-eyed brunette looked over at her.  
>"Yeah?"<p>

"Can I try it?"

"You wanna try a cigarette?" he asked in almost disbelief. "What happened to your lung cancer campaign?"

"I dunno, just thought I'd give it a shot..." she knew that smoking wasn't really something that she should have wanted to try; but since she was born curious, she decided that she just wanted to experience it just once.

"Okay... then knock yourself out..." Matt trailed off, passing over the cancer stick to one of his best friends who took it awkwardly in her hand. "You're holding it wrong," he commented after watching the girl fumble around with the stick while trying to take a drag. "You hold it like this," he instructed as he took the cig and placed it between her two correct fingers.

She nodded with each instruction and placed the stick between her lips and inhaled awkwardly. Almost immediately, she burst out into a coughing fit. This caused Matt to laugh at the sight which only got him a glare in return.

But by her third attempt in trying to get it right, she succeeded in taking a decent drag without coughing like a crazy woman. Matt, still smiling, held out his hand for the cig which Butterfly passed over a tad bit hesitantly. after his next hit from the cig, Matt looked over to the girl.  
>"Did you know that when two people share a cigarette, it's the equivalent of them kissing?"<p>

"Eww..." Butterfly mused, her face scrunching up in disgust. Matt raised an eyebrow in question.

"What? Think kissing me is gross?" He asked, his voice had a slight teasing sound to it.

"No... I just hope that kissing you would be as gross as that thing..." she admitted quietly to herself. But Matt overheard this which caused him to drop his cigarette to the muddy ground and stomp on it a few times.

"So... you don't mind if I try something?"

"Try what...?" she questioned. Now it was her turn to do the raising of eyebrows.

"Just an experiment," he reassured her, his voice one hundred percent free of doubt. Butterfly knew that little experiments in daily life were common here, so she shrugged.

"Go ahead."

But Butterfly had no idea how to react when Matt walked over to her, tilted her chin up, and brought his lips to hers. But this kiss was not like the first one they shared oh so long ago. No, this one was filled to the brim with heat and passion. It was a kiss that seemed like it had been held back for many years. The girl's blue orbs widened and a blush colored her cheeks; her only response was closing her eyes and melting into the kiss. Her brain quickly noted that the boy had rather soft lips that had the taste of nicotine lingering on them. Though it wasn't that distasteful in her opinion. Within a few moments, she found herself putting pressure on his lips with her own, some strange feeling working its way through her body. Her stomach was clenching up with something that she couldn't quite explain.

With the sound of the rain pouring in the background, the two of them pulled away from each other, both of them each baring a bright red blush on their cheeks.

"Well... was your hypothesis proven...?" Butterfly stated rather lamely.

"Not yet..." Matt trailed off, his teenage boy eyes rolling down to one feature on the girl. "There's still something else I need to test..."

The smirk he sent her was one that made her knees weak.

* * *

><p>"Matt..." Butterfly panted, cuddling close to the boy a few hours later under the blankets on his bed, her heart still racing. The brunette male looked at Butterfly with warm eyes.<p>

"Yeah...?"

"Can you... tell me your real name?" she asked one of the biggest things to ask of someone in Wammy's. Names were the only thing of your past that you got to keep safe from anyone. They were treasures that were completely unspoken of. So she had to admit that she knew she was asking a lot from her friend.

Matt, being his neutral self, didn't seem to mind too much. "Mail, Mail Jeevas." He stated, nuzzling into her hair, breathing in her scent. He knew he had just done something strange and frowned upon at their age. But his mind was years ahead of his body; and his mind had been ready.  
>"What's yours...?"<p>

The least she could do was tell him her name in response. "Jaclyn, Jaclyn Burnside..."

He smiled.

"Mail, do you love me?"

"Probably."

And for a boy of his position and mentality, that's all he could say. But it was okay because she felt the same.


	11. Chapter 11

_"Dilated eyes shine for one last time_  
><em>Are you holding on? <em>  
><em>Keep holding on…<em>  
><em>You're not like me,<em>  
><em>Your faceless lies,<em>  
><em>Your weak dead heart,<em>  
><em>Your black dead eyes…"<em>  
>-Breaking Benjamin, Crawl<p>

November 5, 2004

Light Yagami knew that this day would someday soon come. His trained ears picked up the sounds of the people around him panicking as Watari succumbed to the spell of Kira's greatest weapon: the Death Note. In Kira's hands, the Death Note was a tool to rid the world of the scum that choked up the gutters of civilization much like old leaves. The people Kira killed were useless and deserved to die, they _had_ to die for a perfect reality to be obtained. And Kira, Light Yagami, was confident that he could achieve that perfect vision in his head. But, in order to accomplish that, he had to eradicate the people who were trying to stop him as well.

The plan was simple yet complex at the same time. But there had been no need for Light to worry since all the chips fell in the exact order he had planned it oh so carefully before he had been incarcerated.

And now, in this vary golden hour, Kira's biggest enemy would also be drawing in his last breath.

The sounds of his father and the rest of the team buzzed by his ears like troublesome insects, he couldn't listen to the words they were forming with terrified tongues. No, his brown orbs were locked on one person and one person only: L. The detective was beginning to speak, the words falling deaf to Light's ringing ears. But even Light was able to understand when L cut off his sentence. Light also sucked in one deep breath, a breath that was hitched with excitement and pure euphoria. Finally, finally Kira could claim victory over L, and finally Kira could change the world.

Kira could _save_ the world.

Shining eyes watched as the dark haired man began to tumble backwards like a dying animal, his arms reaching blindly for anything that could stop his fall. But alas the descent of the great one could not be averted by anything around them. Plummeting out of his chair he sat in like a king of his own little world, L knew his final moments had come. Doing something that any good friend would do, Light lunged forward and caught the falling detective, well; he was more or less tackling him, if truth be told. But to the outsiders, it simply seemed like someone's desperate attempt to save a good friend. Light brown irises peered down into wide black eyes, the eyes of a victim, the eyes of a king, the eyes of a peasant, the eyes of a savior, and the eyes of Satan. L was many things to Light, Light viewed L in such a way that if one were to try and figure it out, they would only end up more puzzled than when they originally started. L was a god that lived among peasants, much like Kira.

Into L's eyes, Light could see every tale of crimson story and regret. Light saw all the lies splayed across those ebony fields of desolation. Light saw loneliness; Light saw thievery and upmost pride. Light saw occasional moments of joy and Light saw a monster.  
>Light saw himself reflected in those clear pools of black.<p>

Pale lips began to move in a movement so soft that it seemed like it was only something an angel could do. No sounds escaped the cage of L's throat as he lie there dying the arms of a killer. Unable to control himself, Light's lips tugged up until he was beaming down at the man he had worked with so long with the most twisted smile a human could manage to pull; a smile that could only be done by two things: Kira and a monster.

There was a thin line between those two creatures. Kira was a monster as was L.

Kira and L were the same no matter which way Light Yagami looked at it. There was no escaping that bitter reality.

Studying L's lips, Light could make out a few attempts at words, though they definitely weren't words in Japanese; more than likely they were in English. With his brain singing with glee and his blood boiling with rejoicing, Light struggled to focus on the words the man could be uttering. How rude would it be if Light was not able to understand L's final words?

In feeble attempts of making his final lament known, L continued to mouth those words though he knew that the only one who ever would know them would be Kira and no one else. If could understand them at all, that was.

'I knew…' were the only words that Light could read from the greatest detective in the world's dying lips. With amusement alit in Light's smile, he watched as L began to close his eyelids over those empty, dead eyes. Time was slow and it added emphasis on these final moments, the victory of Kira overpowering L.

With eyes shut tight, L left this world for the next.

That was the day that L Lawliet died, causing all that was left of Light Yagami to perish as well.

Kira had won.

* * *

><p>Some Time Later<br>Winchester, United Kingdom

"Hey, Mello!" Butterfly shouted at the blond boy that was walking through the halls at Wammy's. Stopping his walk and turning to look at the girl, Mello sighed.

"What do you want?" his tone clearly suggested that he was not in the mood to be having conversation. Tossing up a black and white ball, Butterfly gave the blond male a coy grin. With smooth motions, she caught the ball in between her palms and parted her lips to speak.

"Up for some football?" she asked in an innocent voice. "Or are you scared you're going to lose. I've been practicing with Matt, and I'm certain I could take you." At the mention of her attempting to beat him, Mello rolled his piercing blue orbs and snorted in disbelief.

"You, taking me?" he scoffed at her, a thin smirk playing across his lips. "In your dreams, kiddo. You and Matt both suck."

"Hey!" the girl narrowed her eyes, offended at her friend's offing comment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I speak the truth," he defended in a mock innocent voice, turning his gaze away from the black-haired girl. "Anyway, though I would love to see you cry out in defeat, I'll have to pass."

Eyes narrowing even further, Butterfly cocked a dark eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Sighing and once again turning to face the girl, Mello responded in an even tone that didn't give a clue about his emotions away. "Roger wants me in his office, so I'm guessing I'm either in trouble or he wants to talk to me about my grades…" Silently, Mello found himself wishing that Roger would be informing him that he had finally topped Near with his studies that he, Mello, would be the one to succeed L.

"Ah…" Butterfly mused, tossing the football up and catching it. "I wish you the best of luck then," she stated with a bit of humor in her voice. "Don't get detention again," she scolded him in a playful tone that was very half-hearted.

"Yeah," he laughed once before continuing his trek down the hallways full of kids playing or simply making their ways to other parts of the orphanage. Mello had not a single clue of he was walking into; he just knew that it was something that he would be able to handle.

Mello was wrong.

At the refusal from, Mello, Butterfly decided to rid herself of the ball and go track down Matt which didn't seem like it would e a very hard task to accomplish. Padding across the floor with one foot bare, she made her way to the room Near and her still shared despite their ages. Roger sometimes seemed as if he was disturbed by that fact, but he never pushed for them to change their room arrangement. Pushing open the door with ease, Butterfly stepped into the familiar scenery of her room. Even though she had matured both physically and mentally throughout the years, her room barely seemed to reflect that change other than in a few tiny subjects.

Much like when she was a child, her books and school work were cluttered and scattered about on the floor beside her bed with no certain order to it. Also, her bedding had not changed either since her arrival at Wammy's year ago. The same pillows were settled up against the head of the bed and the sheets and blanket looked as if someone had just crawled out of it. She would make the bed look nice later. Also on the unchanged bed was a familiar plush face staring at her with fake little black eyes: Baby. The stuffed creature never once was abandoned by the raven-haired teen no matter how often Mello would tease her about it. Baby was something sacred to her; a part of her she could never let go. The only other thing in this room that had changed was a small photograph in a homemade frame sitting on the table beside the girl's bed that held the alarm clock Near and her shared. The frame was a bit crooked but it held the colored photograph of Butterfly smiling nervously with a big blush coloring her cheeks. Draping an arm over her slim shoulders was none other than Matt with his goggles pulled up to his forehead, revealing his deep blue eyes. For once, he was not looking down at a videogame system or anything of the sorts, which only made the photo even more precious to the girl. The photograph had been a gift from Matt and the frame had been something she had attempted to construct during a woodshop class she had took.

But as she lost herself in these small memories, she noticed another factor to this room: Near was not in here. Usually she would find Near constructing a puzzle of some sorts in here around this time of the day. But he was nowhere to be found. Shrugging her shoulders, Butterfly tossed the football into the corner of the room before quickly turning and walking out of the door, pulling it shut with her exit.

The new place of her focus was the place she was expecting Matt to be: in his room. With her pace slightly quicker than usual, she maneuvered around the other Wammy kids. Some of them waved at her, trying to stay on her friendly side instead of becoming an enemy of hers, though secretly, many of them would resent her for being higher up on the food chain than they were. This type of hatred was a common one among the halls of Wammy's.

Without hesitating to knock, Butterfly opened the door to the room that Mello and Matt had shared throughout the years and stepped in. The teen had long since made her home among the chocolate wrappers and videogame console wires that had a habit of snaking around each other and tangling up shoes and other small objects that had the unfortunate luck to plummet into their clutches.

"Matt," she called out as she shut the door behind her. The gamer looked up and shot her one of his half smiles before looking back down over at the game he had been playing. The graphics weren't the best but Butterfly could tell that he was fully absorbed in it.

"Whatcha playing?" she asked, sitting on his bed beside him. After a moment, he responded without pulling his gaze away from the screen.

"Mortal Kombat."

"Ah, I suck at those games…" she grumbled, blushing at when Matt had attempted to teach her how to play the fighting game. While Matt had pretty much every combo memorized, Butterfly's only fighting strategy was to push a random assortment of buttons and hope for the best result. Matt gave a small grunt and a sideways smile t show that he agreed. As Matt continued to fight the round, Butterfly simply sat quietly beside him like she usually did. Often, Butterfly would find herself being teased by the others girls on the subject of the relationship between her and Matt.

'Matt and Butterfly sitting in a tree…' was one of the things they would sometimes chant in teasing tones. This was something that Butterfly could never really understand. Sure, it was true that the girl spent a lot of time with Matt and it was also true that sometimes they would hold hands. They also did things that some couples would do such as kiss and sometimes even go as far as to get intimate with each other. But still, Matt never went as far as to claim Butterfly as his girlfriend, and Butterfly really didn't care if they fell under that title. All that mattered to her was that she and Matt got to spend time together, which she enjoyed greatly.

After winning the match that was deemed a "Flawless Victory" in big letters, Matt turned off the game and turned to face Butterfly.

"Sorry about that," he apologized for being so absorbed in his game. Butterfly smiled warmly.

"It was no problem," she responded, brushing her dark hair over her shoulders. "So… how are you?" A dark blush began to color her cheeks as he leaned in close to her, her reflection displayed on his orange goggles.

"Better, now that you're here," he said with a husky tone in his voice, his lips now inches away from hers. With a sudden movement, Butterfly slugged him in the shoulder with as much force as she could conjure, which caused Matt's lips to set into a grimace.

"Ow…. What was that for?" Matt complained, rubbing the area that she had hit. Yet, his position remained fixed in the place.

"For being cheesy," she defended, an innocent smile spread across her face. As Matt opened his mouth to release a rebuttal, the door was thrown open and sent slamming into the wall. Standing in the doorway was a very pissed off looking Mello. The main expression on his face was one of anger, though sadness and some other expression that Butterfly could not comprehend were alive in his blue eyes. Both Matt and Butterfly stared at Mello with confused expressions and weren't sure how to probe Mello into admitted what was wrong.

All probing was unnecessary; however, for Mello spoke in a hushed voice as he entered the room and let the door slam shut behind him.

"L… is dead…"

And after another breath, he added, "And i'm leaving."


	12. Chapter 12

_"These are the words but the words aren't coming out_  
><em>They burn 'cause they are hard to say.<em>  
><em>For every failing sun, there's a morning after<em>  
><em>Though i'm empty when you go...<em>  
><em>I just wanted you to know"<em>  
>-My Chemical Romance, The World is Ugly<p>

Disbelief was painted over both Matt and Butterfly's faces as that comment reached their ears. Not sure how to respond, they stared at their friend with mouths agape slightly, like they weren't sure what words could be said in this situation; how were they supposed to react? Not only was L, their hero, their light, their leader, everything they strived to be, dead and gone, but now Mello, their friend, their _brother_ was leaving them. It was a double whammy (no pun intended) no matter which way they looked at it.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Matt asked first, his voice empty of emotion at the current moment. Butterfly could tell that he was upset, however.

Mello didn't answer them, he just gave them both a solemn look, a sad look that did not belong on Mello's usually scowling face. It was out of place, a taboo, that sadness in those deep eyes sparked something in Matt. It wasn't much of a spark, but it was a memory. _That's how he looked the day his parents died..._ The hopelessness in Mello, the stronger one of the duo of boys, made Matt also feel the same feelings, the sadness, the hurt, the betrayal, the _fear._ Instead of an explanation, Mello exhaled roughly so that it was similar to the sound an animal would make. The sound a desperate animal would make. Looking around the room and over the two now saddened faces of his friends for a second, Mello appeared as if he were looking for an answer somewhere in this clutter of a room he called his. But there were no answers here for him, there were never any answers at Wammy's, there were only questions. Questions that just kept getting harder and harder to answer. Answers Mello had to go out and find on his own.

He dashed over to the drawer where he kept his clothes and yanked it wide open exposing the black and occasionally red or blue clothing that was stored inside. Not bothering to look at the clothing he was pulling out, he tossed it onto his unmade bed, his teeth grinding together like saws.

"Mello!" Matt almost yelled, the emotions finally leaking into his voice. "You can't leave me!"

That emotional statement made Mello stop his actions and look over at his best friend with crazed confused eyes. Even Butterfly was surprised  
>by the tones of hurt and anger in Matt's voice.<p>

"Matt..." she murmured softly, the volume too soft to hear. Matt's lower lips trembled a bit, his goggles up on his head, those bright blue eyes watery.

"Mello... C'mon... just calm down and come here..."

The blond sighed and walked over to Matt and did something Butterfly had never seen him do before: he wrapped his arms around Matt and pulled him into a tight hug. It wasn't a romantic embrace or even a quick "bro" hug. No, this was a "you're my best friend" hug.

"Matt... I can't stay here..." Mello grumbled, his voice starting to thicken, tears in his own eyes that refused to pool over. "I can't let that big headed twit win..."

Butterfly's brain clicked at that moment. _Near... how is he taking this? _

"Mello, where are you gonna go, huh?" Matt questioned. "You'll get killed out there! You're a kid!"

"Matt!" Mello snapped. "I am not a child! Maybe by my age but I am not a child and will not tolerate being called one, you hear me?!" Matt closed his mouth and didn't speak. Gently, Mello escaped from the hug without difficulty and walked back over to the bed. Matt didn't move, he just sat there on his knees for a moment, watching Mello's every move.

A strong longing to touch and comfort Matt rushed through Butterfly, but she could not will herself to move. She didn't know how to comfort him, or herself for that matter. The blond was now reaching under his bed and pulling out a duffle bag, his only means of packing.

"Mello..."

Mello grunted, ignoring the sound Butterfly had created with her lips. Instead he began to take the clothes he had thrown out and began to pile them into the bag in a sloppy fashion. Once the clothes were in, he yanked open his sock drawer and pulled out a handful of bills and a plastic sandwich bag full of coins which he tossed into the disarray of clothing. Also, bars of chocolate that he had been hoarding were added to his meager collection of supplies. Mello didn't have much that he could rely on to protect him other than his wits. Though, Mello's wits could usually get him through anything.

"Are you sure about this...?" Matt said softly, his words strangled. "You can stay for the night..."

Mello shook his head, not even bothering to speak what he was trying to say.

"I'll... call when I need you, Matt," Mello said coldly, pulling his shoes on and slipping a jacket over his form. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he walked passed his best friend, not even giving him one last passing glance. For a moment, he hesitated when he got near Butterfly, which surprised her a bit.

"Butterfly..." he whispered as his eyes met hers. "Take care of him..."

With that Mello left the room, no words anyone could say would change his mind.

Mihael Keehl was on his own.

-

Butterfly couldn't bare to leave Matt that night. All she could do was hold and try to comfort him with soft words that she knew wouldn't do anything to help him. Mello was was like Matt's brother. Ever since both of their families perished during the same bloody night, the two boys knew that they had to stick together and could only trust each other. She had never seen Matt cry before, yet for some reason all he really did was sniffle and wipe his tears away frantically. He also kept apologizing over and over again to his female companion, almost as if he was embarrassed by the water that ran down his boyish face from his beautiful blue eyes.

But she didn't care if he was crying, all she wanted was to hold him, all she wanted was for him to know how much she loved him, even if he didn't love her as much as she loved him. Matt was normally never this affected by things, but this was something that devastated him. Could she really blame him though? Could she blame Matt for feeling? It was almost as if he was releasing all those pent up feelings from all his indifferent years of thinking. All his emotions were pouring out of him in the form of tears. The boy clung onto her in a desperate way, almost as if he was scared that if he let her go, she would disappear.

"Don't leave me..." he whispered into her chest where he was lying his head as she held him. "Please... don't leave me too..."

"I won't..." she whispered into his reddish brown locks as she stroked them, whispering reassuringly into his scalp. "I promise..."

Matt was silent for a moment, his ears picking up the thump of her heart beating in her chest. It was a nice sound, a sound that calmed him down a bit, allowing him to stop the heaving sobs in his chest. Nuzzling a bit closer, he closed his eyes, listening to the beat. A thin, fragile smile appeared on the blue-eyed girl's lips as she realized she succeeded in calming her lover down.

"You're lying."

-

Near paced the length of his room, looking down at the domino he held in his hand. His eyes judged it, registering the number of dots on it, the small lines of wear, the discolored white patches in certain areas. The dark-eyed boy wasn't one to be easily thrown off by something, in fact he wasn't a fan of L as a person, as a goal, however, he was perfect. L was a goal, that was all. Near knew it was a caring way of viewing the man whom he owed plenty, but Near wasn't really bothered by it. L was dead, he lost the game. Sure, the man named by a letter left a legacy, a challenge, and a game. A game Near was confident he could win if he was clever enough. It wasn't a game of knowledge, it was a game of wit and fox-like stealth. All he had to be careful with was how he moved his pieces with perfect precision, mistakes would result in failure. Maybe not death, but they would end in failure which was something that Near would not tolerate. Drained of emotion, the boy tossed the domino aside, hearing it clack against the floor as it fell. Gripping a lock of his snowy-white hair, Near thought. Mello was gone, he had heard the blond's parting words to one of children who wanted to know where he was going.

For now, Mello was out of the picture, making him a bigger threat. _Or was he a threat? _That thought bugged Near yet intrigued him as well. Perhaps Mello was not a threat, in fact, perhaps he was a tool, a piece on a chessboard that would unconsciously do his bidding. But in order to achieve that, Near would have to make sure that he always kept an eye on the unpredictability that was Mello. For that, he needed more resources.

Well, Mello wasn't the only person Near could use to solve this case. No, he had Matt, Mello's dear friend. Butterfly would be of much use as well with her deductive skills. In fact, they still had a promise that they would work together.

_Time to cash in a promise... and a favor..._ he thought, holding up three fingers to represent his chess pieces. Wiggling one finger, the pointer, he visualized face of Mello, stern and prideful. _My rook..._ he thought. Mello was unpredictable, yet that could lean in Near's favor if he was unpredictable at the right times. However, Mello was also very predictable in the ways that he was unpredictable, no matter how much of an oxymoron that was. _It's only natural that Mello would do whatever it takes to beat me, that much is obvious. _

He wiggled his middle finger, visualizing the expressions that Butterfly wore on her face: laughing, sometimes scolding, but familiar nonetheless. _My bishop..._ he thought, a bit amused. Butterfly would be a reliable piece, one that he knew he could count on for some time. _She'll cooperate for the time being, we are friends..._ he told himself. _Also, she can help me keep my eyes on Mello... _

Now came the time for the ring finger to be wiggled. Matt's indifferent guise danced in Near's mind's eye as he realized that Matt would be of plenty of use too, even if he was a lazy character. Matt was the bridge between Mello and Butterfly: two opposing forces. His neutral facade did prevent him from achieving much of what he was more than capable of doing._However, his emotional hardness could make him a decent knight... the perfect balance between offense and defense if I do say so myself..._ Satisfied with his newfound pieces, he dropped his fingers and sat himself on the floor and began to formulate how he would break the news to his dear friend.

Three months later

"Ah, good morning, Near," Butterfly greeted her roommate as she ran a comb through her tangled black locks in an insensitive manner, almost as if she could not feel it. It was rough but she didn't seem to be bothered by the pulling sensation, or perhaps she was just good at ignoring her own pain.

"Morning," Near responded in a bland way, moving a toy car over the surface of the floor, making low sound effects under his breath. Butterfly cocked an eyebrow at him as she peered over at him from her bed. It was Sunday, classes would start in the morning tomorrow but she was going to spend the rest of the day with Matt, like usual.

Three months had passed since Mello had departed and life was starting to get back to its usual slow way of going by. Near seemed to be thoughtful, which wasn't unusual, but Butterfly could tell something was off about the boy. "Near?" she asked, "Is everything okay...?"

"Yes, why are you asking?" he questioned in return, a mock innocence in his voice.

"Your posture is a bit off today," she responded, her own tone mimicking his. Near let a small, mischievous smile spread across his lips, causing Butterfly to chuckle.

"I never knew you cared so much about my posture; you must be watching it very closely to notice things like this." His tone now held a small hint of joking.

"Of course I worry about your posture," she chuckled, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Interesting... so you wouldn't mind working with me?"

Well, that came out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, confusion alive in her eyes. _Where is he coming from..? _

"Simple, I will be leaving soon to conduct my own investigation on Kira, naturally, I would require some assistance in the operation," Near explained with a rather serious yet confident tone.

"So soon?" Were the only words Butterfly could push out.

"Yes," Near's tone went back to being bland in emotion. "The sooner the better, we must recover all the information left behind from L."

_L... of course... he was investigating Kira when he died... if we can get all of his research we'll have a jumpstart... _A jumpstart on who? That question bugged her because she didn't have an answer.

"I've already made arrangements with Roger and things are being taken care of, in fact, we should be able to leave by noon tomorrow. You have time to pack."

Tomorrow? So soon? Sudden Butterfly's calm brain was swimming in chaos. Tomorrow she would be leaving Wammy's; her home for so long. Tomorrow she would begin a long search -or hunt, for a mass murderer that no one could catch. Perhaps even the very person that killed L. No, Butterfly did not doubt it. L had been killed by Kira. Butterfly wanted nothing more than to hunt down the killer, but would be she be ready by tomorrow?

_And what about Matt?_

"Matt...?"Butterfly managed to whisper softly.

"Would be staying here until he decides to leave on his own accord. He wouldn't be of much use to me."

"Right..." Butterfly said, her throat tightening up. "I just can't leave Matt like that... you know that, Near..."

"Actually, you can leave, your personal feelings just seem to be getting in the way," Near stated the obvious like usual. "But no one will be forcing you to go."

"No, I want to but..."

"You feel responsible for Matt."

"That's not all of it..." Butterfly pressed, her arms crossing over her chest loosely.

"Attraction."

Butterfly let out a strangled sigh. "No, love Near, I love Matt, that's why."

"So it is attraction," Near mused, twirling that lock of his hair. Butterfly sighed knew near wouldn't understand the emotional aspects because love was a chemical thing. Perhaps that's all it was, but she highly doubted Near would fully be able to comprehend a chemical romance, it was something even she had troubles comprehending.

"Nonetheless," Near continued speaking. "I won't make you choose between this case and Matt, it would be morally incorrect of."

"_Morals_?" Butterfly scoffed at the word. "Near, moral correctness and political correctness were something you would never waste your energy on."

"Yes," Near replied simply, which irritated her. "But I must ask you to make a decision." With her head throbbing, Butterfly thought hard about this. Matt or avenging L? Matt or assisting Near? _A promise or a promise..._ Swallowing the lump in her throat, her brain travelled back to her promise to Matt.

_"Don't leave me..Please, don't leave me too…"_

_"I won't. I promise."_

_"You're lying."_

The last words Matt said on that subject made her chest tighten even more.

_"Of course Near, I promise that we'll tackle the greatest cases in the world together."_

After a moment of hesitation, Butterfly spoke.

"Okay... I'll go with you, Near..."


	13. Chapter 13

_"You surrender your heart,_  
><em>I surrender every dream,<em>  
><em>Every weapon you've got,<em>  
><em>Every secret that I keep,<em>  
><em>You can fight this all you want,<em>  
><em>But tonight belongs to me"<em>  
>-My Chemical Romance, Surrender the Night<p>

Goodbyes were something that, to an orphan, began to take on the role of being a regular occurrence. It was beginning to seem that there was no way to escape it. No matter how hard someone was to try, they could never escape the word: goodbye.

The goodbye between Matt and Butterfly was not one of many words professing one another's feelings. It mostly consisted of silence and the sensation of being wrapped up in blankets, just holding one another and listening to the sounds of Wammy's House. The melody of Wammy's was the sound of Roger's shoes clicking against the hardwood floors, the sound of children stifling giggles and talking about grades, floorboards squeaked as the large building settled. It was a beat they heard every night, but something about this time made the noises more sacred.  
>As Matt pulled in a breath, Butterfly released hers, her head against his striped clad chest. The thump of his heartbeat played in her head on repeat, a sound she treasured.<p>

No more tears were shed from her eyes, for they all had dried up as she forced the words out. The words had been taken by a solemn look and a tight embrace. However, there was emptiness in her soul and an ache in her heart that was foreign to her. Throughout her life, Butterfly had felt many types of pain. She had the bitter ache of loneliness and the stings of physical pain memorized. The burn of disappointment and rejection were also members of her lexicon. This new pain was a bit of loneliness and something else she couldn't quite put a word to.

Slowly, Matt moved his hand from the female's side into her raven black locks, feeling the softness of her hair. No words could describe how empty he was beginning to feel. Plans and ideas swirled through his brain as he held the girl he gave his purity to close to his heart, feeling every breath she took. He would not be able to join her. That much was obvious. Nor would he leave Wammy's in search of Mello. Mello's whereabouts were a mystery to Matt and Matt didn't know if he would be able to survive alone at his age. He wasn't Mello; he wasn't some unstoppable force with an agenda. Matt was just Mail Jeevas, that was it.

It would take Mail Jeevas many years to realize that to Jaclyn Burnside, he was the greatest gift the world would offer.

It would take her many years to realize that as well.

"Matt," she spoke softly like the glow of a candle at midnight's final stroke. Matt's eyes met hers; his face was free of his goggles which rested on his nightstand.

"Yeah?" he asked, continuing to run his fingers through her hair absentmindedly.

"Do you think we'll see each other again?" her question was asked in a faint voice, like the gentle breeze of the wind. Matt thought for a moment.

"I... don't know..." the statement couldn't have been closer to the truth. Everything in their future was a blank slate. With Kira tugging on the strings, anything could happen to them. But with Butterfly under Near's guidance and Matt under Mello's, there was a chance that their paths would meet once again.

"Okay... but I want you to have something..." her voice was now one full of heavy emotions and some sudden desire that Matt could not comprehend. Her body wiggled a bit as she tried to get out of Matt's arms. Once he registered this want, Matt dropped his arms to his sides giving her freedom to move as she pleased. With a small smile to stand in for a "thank you", Butterfly slide off of Matt's chest and stepped off the bed onto the floor. A small shudder rippled through her as her bare feet touched the cold ground, but she shook it off and her icy blues began to dart around the room. After a few moments, it appeared she had found what she had been looking for and she bent forward and picked something off the floor. Curious, Matt cocked his head to the side as she strode forward with that strange bear/dog thing she always slept with every night. And since she had been spending the last few nights with Matt, she had left the creature in his room. With a small leap, she landed beside him, the bed squeaking a bit as she landed. The dark-haired girl looked down at the stuffed animal, meeting it dead in the glassy black eyes. As stupid as the thought was, Matt thought it looked as if the two were communicating.

Butterfly looked over to Matt before extending her arm which held the stuffed creature.

"Here, I want you to have Baby, to remember me."

Matt was taken aback. Baby was Butterfly's companion, her dear heirloom of the times before. Never would the auburn-haired child imagine that she would be handing the toy over to him in such a manner.

"No I..." he refused. "I don't need something to remember you by. I'll never forget you..." That made Butterfly smile. Matt had to admit that when she smiled like that, it made heat rise to his face.

"But I insist," she pressed, moving the creature closer to the boy. Matt sighed a bit, realizing that refusing her wouldn't work. Butterfly was like Mello in that way; relentless. Slowly, giving her time to back out, Matt reached over and took the multi-colored creature into his hands, gently as if he were holding a porcelain doll.

"It's only fair if I give you something in return," Matt stated as one of his hands plunged into his pocket.

"There's no ne-," Butterfly began. But Matt cut her off.

"But I insist," he said with a smirk, causing her to laugh a bit. The hand that had been fishing around in Matt's pocket pulled out with a small green colored object. Butterfly didn't have an inkling what it was until it was pressed into her hands. It was a gaming cartridge for a Pokémon game.

Somehow, it was so cheesy.

Somehow, it was perfect.

The night after Butterfly left, Matt slept with the stuffed animal. Butterfly had always claimed that it smelt like strawberries. Matt didn't agree.

It smelt like her.

-

Sometime later  
>The United States of America<p>

Mello could feel the adrenaline racing through his veins as he slumped down on the worn bed in his motel room. The bed gave a groan of protest and exhaustion, implying that it was almost ready to end its life. Sweat ran down Mello's face as his hands trembled from the amount of adrenaline that had bombarded his system. The small room he had been sleeping in for the past few months was only illuminated by a single light fixture that contained a single flickering bulb that buzzed softly.

The room was not grand. The bed was ready to collapse and was covered with tacky flower bed that itched. The pillows all smelt strongly of cigarettes and were heavy and lumpy. The chipped nightstand beside the bed held a lamp with no bulb and an alarm clock that also served as a very staticy radio. The drawer on the nightstand contained a bible with a faded cover which Mello had taken out and read over the last few days. There was a dresser that had an old TV mounted upon but there were very few channels that came in clear. The drawers of the dresser were stuffed with the clothes Mello had brought with him and the ones he had bought when he began to get too big for them. Bargain stores were full of useful things.

The floor of the room was dirty and smelt questionable but it was the best Mello could get for the time being.

_This won't last for long..._ he thought as he looked down at the metal lock box on the d\ground near his feet. Revulsion swam in his stomach as a coppery scent filled his nose. Mello wouldn't admit to anyone that he cried a bit at that moment.

Not because he was sad or in pain.

But because he could feel what was left of that child inside him trying to slip away.

-

Stern eyes took in the figure of the boy that resembled a girl. The boy had guts, he was just full of nerve.

"Well, what do you have for me, kid?" the man barked at the male who called himself "Mello". The name was obviously an alias but Dwight Gordon was rather familiar with those himself. The blond boy sucking a breath before holding out a metal lock box which he began to open, never once looking away from the powerful man he was in the presence of.

The door to the box was thrown open and what Dwight saw almost made him gag.

Gag of amazement.

It wasn't the fact that the sight was gruesome.

It was who the head belonged to that made it so amazing.

"You are one sick puppy, kid."

-

Matt shuffled through the halls of Wammy's looking down at the screen of his hand-held gaming system. The teenager had to admit that graphics were progressively getting better and better as the years went by. To some they were fast, but Matt barely noticed. The only signs of the years going by were his gaming systems and the changing state of his physical body.  
>He was leaving Wammy's soon. Next week, to be exact. Already he had landed a job in London that was decent enough with the cash flow and was so easy it was almost painful. Oh how Matt hated it. The boy already had enough money to rent out an apartment so money was not a reason for staying as long as he did.<p>

He was waiting.

"Matt," he heard a voice say. Matt's head snapped over to see Roger approaching him. Roger looked slightly disgruntled but not as bad as usual. "There's a phone call for you in my office."

Some sort of light Roger had never seen danced in Matt's eyes as he walked towards the office a bit faster than he usually walked.

"Who is it?" he asked.

Roger shrugged. "They didn't say." Matt simply nodded before ducking into the office and picking up the black receiver.

"Butterfly?" he asked, his voice a bit unsure and soft.

"No you idiot," came the deep response. "Listen, you need to get to America as soon as you can."

Matt nodded.

"Alright."

-

**A/N**: A shorter chapter ^^" But still, I wanted to get this out before adding more onto it. Thank you for all the amazing feedback guys 3 I appreciate it.


	14. Chapter 14

_"I've been wasted_  
><em>Pills and alcohol<em>  
><em>I've been chasing<em>  
><em>Down the pool halls<em>  
><em>I drank the water from a hurricane<em>  
><em>I set a fire just to see the flame."<em>  
>-Green Day, See the Light<p>

Matt had to admit that living with Mello wasn't that bad. Sure, Mello was often away doing Satan knows what with the mafia and the apartment wasn't the best thing that Matt had ever lived in; but there were still many perks to the lifestyle. Working with organized underground crime usually coughed up the dough, and Mello never failed to stock up on chocolate and the latest Pokémon games. The apartment looked ragged on the outside, but it was pretty comfy and nicely decorated on the inside due to the OCD that plagued Mello.

There were also the unlimited supplies of cigarettes and the occasional prostitute. And they were always the clean ones.

Yet, there was still something amiss in the teen's young life: affection. The "love" he received from the occasional female companion was nice and all to settle his raging hormones. But yet, there was a dreary emptiness after the fact.

Those girls didn't love him.

Not like how Butterfly did.

And as he went to bed around 5A.M. that morning, gazing out his window at the soon to be sunrise, he wondered.

_What am I missing…? _

As his eyelids began to close, he answered his thoughts.

_Maybe a Butterfree or a Luvdisc…. _

-

It was the constant sound of her fingers hitting the keyboard that kept Butterfly from dozing off. Finally, after so many sleepless nights and painful years Near had put back together L's legacy, giving them a leg up on Kira. But yet she was still typing, under Near's command, of course.

_Near…_

For some reason she was beginning to get a bitter sensation in her gut at the sound of his name, even if spoken mentally. The way he ran his ship in such a… strange way bothered her to no end. Compared to way she and Mello both ran, his ways of dealing with things were cowardly. Near wasn't risking his life in an open way.

But perhaps there was a reason other than grades that made Near the smartest of them all.

Nonetheless, Butterfly was beginning to grow tired of Near's antics and the way she was treated. It wasn't that she wasn't respected or anything of that sort, it just seemed as if Near didn't care for her ideas and opinions in the slightest way. Occasionally he would nod or comment, but most of the time her ideas were tossed aside like they were yesterday's toy wrapper.

It was starting to seem like she was only wanted to record information and progress, while having phone conversations, like a secretary of some sorts. Before she knew it, her eyes snapped open (though she did not remember ever closing them) to gaze up at her laptop screen to see many, many pages of the letter "G" continuously throughout the word document. She must have dozed off. Groaning, she held down the backspace button attempting to rid herself of all sixty-three pages of the letter "G" in the best way her half conscious brain could.

"Fuck…" she groaned, but instead of sounding like a normal word, the sound was lower and longer, making it seemed to be foreign.

"Fell asleep again, Butterfly?" an empty yet amused voice asked from behind. Shocked by the sudden noise, Butterfly jumped in her chair and accidentally backspaced more than she should have.

"Dang it, Near," she sighed, spinning around in her chair to stare at the young albino. One of those rare smiles danced on Near's lips as he chuckled at her surprised expression. "You messed me up… What time is it anyway…?"

"Six A.M. on the dot," he responded smoothly, twirling a lock of his snowy white hair. "I came to check on your progress, that's all."

"Six…?" she sighed, clicking the undo button a few times to get back the sentence she accidentally erased. "I was asleep for an hour?"

"Seems so…" Near mused, moving over to the floor to resume building his small Lego tower that he started yesterday evening. "But, if you like, you may take the day off to catch up on sleep." Carefully, he placed a red block onto the structure.

Even though she wasn't quite sure herself, Butterfly took this as an insult.

"I don't need to catch up on sleep," she argued, glaring slightly at that pale boy. "I can function well without it."

Near sighed. "I know you can stay awake as long as you need to. However, we cannot afford any mistakes with this case." Those words were so confident. "So I am recommending that you get a few hours of sleep at least."

Defeated, Butterfly rose from her chair and strolled across the floor towards the door.

"Alright, Near…"

But Butterfly did not plan on going to sleep.

Instead, once she reached her bedroom, she pulled out a small, sleek blue cell phone and flipped it open. Lying back on her bed, she dialed a number she knew by heart ever since she left Wammy's. Once the number was dialed, she held the phone to her ear, nervousness racing through her body like sparks.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asked.

"Hey, Roger… It's me, Butterfly."

"Oh," Roger sounded genuinely surprised to hear her voice. "I didn't expect you to call."

She laughed a bit. "Is there any way I can speak to Matt?"

She heard Roger grumble something about how "This number was not a hotline", before he responded.

"I'm sorry to say, but Matt left awhile ago. A few months, in fact."

"Ah…" Butterfly felt a crippling sinking feeling in her chest. "Did… he say where he was going?"

"I'm afraid not," admitted Roger. "But he left shortly after receiving a phone call from someone else."

_Mello…?_

"Alright, thank you." The little red button was the next object of her focus. But before she could press it, she heard Roger speak something else.

"Good luck."

With that, she hung up.

For a moment, she stared at the phone that was now shut and in her palm like a small parcel of some kind. With her mind drawing a blank, and the sleepiness still consuming her thoughts, all she could feel was the despair and disappointment of the situation. In a sudden movement, she dropping the phone onto the nightstand beside her bed and gazed up at the ceiling.

"I miss him…" she groaned. "And Mello too…"

Rolling onto her side, she buried half of her face into the pillow, inhaling its bland scent. There had to be another option than just giving up, right? Shutting her eyes, her brain formulated and picked at plans. Her brain was not wired to give up, even after lack of sleep and a non-meal of coffee. She groaned quietly, her eyelids feeling heavy as they struggled to close. Matt wouldn't have just disappeared off the edge of the Earth. Mello would have never allowed that.

Then it clicked.

_Mello… If I can find Mello, I can find Matt, simple as that. _

Finding Mello shouldn't be a difficult task. Tabs were being kept on him by none other than Near himself.

With her eyes shut tight, she decided that she was going to have cut ties with Near if she wanted to pursue Matt and Mello. It would be a risk; dropping everything for the slim chance of finding her two old friends. But risks were part of their daily lives. For Butterfly life wouldn't be worth living unless there were risks being taken.

As she began to slip into the world of dreams, she envisioned what she would say to Near when she awoke.

-

Mello casually leaned against the doorframe, watching a brunette with eyes the color of melted chocolate brush her hair in a delicate fashion. With his expression displeased like normal, he watched this continue for a few moments, surprised the girl had yet to notice him. Mello had to admit that she was beautiful, something more exquisite than Swiss chocolate by the dozen. With her fine skin and deep eyes, he thought that maybe he had finally fallen in love.

The way her rosy lips parted to laugh, the way her dark brown hair fell from her scalp, and the clumsy yet cuteness of her nature had enchanted him.

There were just two problems with Mello's newfound fascination.

First off, Mello didn't have _time for love._ With the goal to beat Near to the finish line as his top priority, he couldn't even dare occupy himself with something like love.

But, even if he did want a relationship, the girl practically had a stamp on her forehead reading "off limits". Ross did not have any children; however, his sister had a daughter who he treated as his own.

The girl brushing her hair, Alissa, was said niece.

Ross treated the girl like a princess, treating her better than her own father did. Since her parents were no longer together, Alissa savored her time with her uncle before she would visit her mother in Japan then her father in Italy.

As he pondered over her complex family tree, Mello took a bite of the chocolate bar in his hand, a satisfactory crunch sounding from his mouth. It was the crunch the chocolate made that caused the brunette to stiffen and spin towards where Mello was, her expression contorted to one of shock. Those eyes of chocolate melted slightly when she recognized him.

"Mello, right?" she asked as she turned her body fully towards him to give him her undivided attention.

"Yeah, that's me," he remarked, tearing off another piece of chocolate, breaking it up with his teeth. She watched with curious eyes as he did this, her gaze innocent and amused.

"Can I have some?" she asked in a shy, innocent tone, holding her hand out slightly. Even though Mello was rather stingy with his chocolate, he hesitated for a moment.

"No," Mello responded flatly, his blue eyes refusing to meet hers.

"Oh… alright…" though her posture and words claimed her to be fine with his refusal, her tone claimed the she was rather offended by it. Now she was the one averting his gaze.

_Nice going Mello…_ Matt's voice echoed in his head. _With an attitude like that, you'll never get a girlfriend and everyone will think you're homosexual. _

Exhaling roughly, Mello plunged his hand into the back pocket of his skin-tight pants and pulled out a chocolate bar that still hadn't melted.

"Wait… I mean… here," he struggled to force the words out. Alissa looked over and smiled at his out stretched hand and reached out to take the chocolate bar. Gently, her small hand took the bar in between her fingers, her skin brushing against his in the process.

A fluttering feeling arose in Mello's stomach and he pulled his hand away as if he has touched a hot coal. Luckily, Alissa didn't notice his sudden action for she was occupying herself with the notion of unwrapping the bar of chocolate.

His heart raced in his chest and he turned away just as her pink lips parted to take a bite of the delectable treat.

This was nothing more than another test, that was all.

He wasn't going to fall.

-

The lights of Los Angeles blurred past Butterfly as she stared out the window of the taxi cab she was riding in. Things were spiraling around her as she tried to recollect her thoughts. Why Near had allowed her to leave so easily had bothered her in some strange way. Perhaps she was expecting Near to make some protest of her leave instead of the bland statement she was given.

_If this is too much for you, you can leave. _

Those childish words echoed in her head. She shook her head almost as if to shake away the memories. No matter what had occurred, she had a mission to do.

"Here we are…" the taxi driver said in a husky voice, stopping the car in what could easily be classified as a "bad neighborhood".

"Thank you… Doug," she smiled, reaching into the breast pocket of her baggy red and white plaid flannel. As she pulled out a small wad of bills, she totaled the amount she would have to tip. Doug waited patiently, turning his head towards where the young girl was sitting. For a moment, he wondered if she was old enough to be out on her own. But, he was a cab driver; he didn't have any place to ask about these things.

"Are you sure this is where you need to stop?" he asked as she held out the green wad of cash, tipping him generously without a doubt.

"Yes," she responded, waiting for him to snatch up his money. "I plan to look around for a place to stay the night." The sky was already dark, though the night had barely begun.

"I could drive you someplace else, little lady," he pressed, taking away the money and flipping through the bills, noting that she gave an extra twenty dollars. "No charge."

"Thank you, but that will not be necessary." She gripped the handle to the door delicately. Shooting a small smile at the man, she opened the door and stepped into the breezy air. Black locks were tosses to and fro as she shivered, waving to the yellow cab as it hesitantly pulled away. For a moment or two, she watched it depart into the distance. Very few items had been deemed important, so her baggage was light. The bag was slung over her shoulders as she looked around the area.

Shabby cars dotted the streets, some with cracked windows or damaged bumpers. Buildings were drab and colorless with faded signs displaying the name of the establishment. A few neon signs were missing letters, changing the names in the most ridiculous ways. There also seemed to be a large number of bars in this area. But Butterfly was confident she could make it through with her clever wit and her knowledge.  
>For a moment, she hesitated once again but this was only so she could fix the bottom button on her flannel. Deciding to go left, she walked. The sound of her boots against the cement filled her ears as the wind nipped at her face in a bland way. The night was a bit chilly, but it was something she could handle.<p>

The eyes of a few people who were still out and about during these late hours followed her. Some were interested but most discarded her as being unimportant.

As she walked, her tight pants scratched at her skin, bothering her and turning her attention to only this discomfort, making it seem more painful than it was. However, she knew better than to stop in the middle of street to adjust them. That would be the equivalent of hanging a neon sign above her head reading "someone, please, mug me".

Before she had left, she had found the location of the motels in this area, so she had an idea of where she was going. Why she didn't just ask the driver to take her the motel was a mystery to her. Perhaps it was just an impulsive movement on the chess board or there was some subconscious reason for it. No matter what her motives were, she knew she only had three more blocks to travel.

"Hey there, babe."

The next possible instant, Butterfly felt the air leave her body as she was slammed against the brick of the building, her body screaming in pain. A choke of a gasp escaped her mouth as shock consumed her and her eyes and nose struggled to identify the perpetrator. The first thing she noticed was the stature of the man that had knocked her into the wall. No matter how hard she fought, she was trapped between his hulking mass and brick wall. The next sensation she felt was the coldness of the blade that was now pressed against her throat, too close for comfort.  
>Unfortunately, the lighting made it hard for her to see the features of the man, but she could smell tobacco and alcohol on his reeking breath.<br>With her eyes wide with fear, her brain shut down and she was left only with her instincts.

"That's a good girl," he slurred, keeping the knife pressed to the girl's neck. "I don't want to cut you're little face up." A chuckle rumbled through him as if this were some joke. She gulped. The man's large hand reached for the buckle of her pants causing a sudden lurch of a new type of fear to spread through her body.

_That's not his…_

As the man began to tug the tight trousers down, panic kicked in and the girl began to push at the knife wielding hand, trying to get it away from the vital area of her neck.

"Y-," the man began but his words were cut off as the shrill sound of a bullet took over the sound barrier. Butterfly admitted to jumping at the sound for she hadn't been expecting it.

Suddenly, the knife flew away and the man's body crumpled forward so that he was sagging against the trembling body of Butterfly. Blood oozed from the entrance and exit wounds on the man's head and stained her clothes. For the moment she was oblivious to that fact.

"Long time no see," a voice mused as a figure appeared from the shadows.

Butterfly's heart thumped in her chest as she pushed the body off her, causing it to crumple to the ground with a slight thud. Her fingers curled around her belt loops and she tugged her pants back up, eyes fixed on the one who had fired the shot.

"Mello…" she breathed.

-

A/N: I would like to apologize for any offensive material in this chapter ^^' Thank you for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

_"Stop your preaching right there_ 'c_ause I really don't care_  
><em>and I'll do it again.<em>  
><em>So get me out of my head,<em> _'cause it's getting kind of cramped, you know._  
><em>Coming ready or not<em>.  
><em>When the motor gets hot<em> w_e can do it again."_  
>-My Chemical Romance, Bulletproof Heart<p>

The dinky diner was illuminated by flickering lights that buzzed loudly. A tired waitress who had been landed with the night shift to pay for her college loans stared blankly at the old television that was suspended above the dining area as she wiped down the greasy bar counter. The cook was occupying himself with scrubbing the pans he had to work with as the neon framed clock displayed the current time: 12:59. The waitress sighed as she too noticed the time and looked around the diner, eyes trailing to the three customers that inhabited the room.

One was a man who was sitting in the far corner of the bar with a newspaper opened to the sports page. A simple hat covered his greying hair and a faded jacket covered his form. On the bar near him was a steaming cup of coffee she had made for him. The accent he spoke with was one from the southern states which she found very enticing.

In the booth by the window sat the other two. One was a young woman with a pale complexion who seemed to be lacking sleep. There was a shaken aura about her, but she did her best to remain strong and composed. She was clad in a plaid flannel that was rather baggy but her pants were dark and tight. Black hair hung off her head and was constantly being brushed from her bright blue eyes that the waitress could almost see from where she stood. Sitting across the table from her was a figure coated in black. At first the waitress had thought it had been another woman until the figure spoke. That's when the minimum wage waitress had realized that he was a male.

The outfit choice of the male had surprised the waitress. He wore tight leather pants that gave very little comfort room. Also there was a jacket over his body. It was simple black with a bright purple collar and a multitude zippers covered the jacket. Both members of the duo had ordered coffee, one ordering more cream than the other. They appeared to be speaking, but the waitress knew that nosey actions would only get her in uncomfortable situations.

-

"So, Mello," Butterfly spoke lamely, taking a sip of her creamy coffee. Mello looked over to her with a bland expression, breaking off pieces of the chocolate bar he held in his hands. "You wanted to talk…?"

"Indeed," he responded, dropping piece after piece into the liquid. A tiny splash was heard as the small piece of chocolate fell to the bottom of the mug and was stirred around by the small straw that protruded from the brown liquid. "I know you're working with the white-haired twit and-."

"Was working for the white-haired twit," Butterfly corrected him with a smug smile. Mello's left eye twitched slightly at her interruption but he kept quiet.

"Yes… well I wanted to know if you would consider assisting me with my goals."

"You mean, join the dark side?"

Humor seemed to be the last thing on Mello's mind. He exhaled roughly, fixing Butterfly in his stern blue gaze.

"That's one way of saying it…"

"Do you have cookies?" Butterfly pressed with a smile plastered on her face. Leaning across the table she swore she could almost smell his anger radiating off his scowl. With a sly grin, she slumped back into her sit, picking up her coffee mug in a delicate fashion.

"Do you want to help me or not?" Mello snapped, angrily gripping the handle of his coffee cup and jerking it to his lips set in the angry fix. Parting his lips, he dumped the contents into his mouth from which many curses and threats have been spewed throughout his young life. He just about slammed the cup back to the surface of the table, miraculously not breaking it. The small cup, however, seemed to quiver as his hand pulled away. With a gulp, all the contents were swallowed.

Butterfly frowned at the approach and set her own coffee mug down gently without a splash or a wobble.

"I'll help you," Butterfly agreed, her face holding no vice. "I've been helping Near so I know a lot about the Kira case."

A small smirk appeared on Mello's face. "I know a lot about the Kira case as well." Butterfly cocked a dark eyebrow, her lips loosely set.

"Is that so? Then you must know that-."

"We can't talk about it here!" Mello scolded in a harsh whisper, his words even managing to be violent when hushed. An embarrassed blush pooled across Butterfly's face at the reminder. Even if there were only a few people who were near them (all out of earshot), they couldn't risk revealing any information about the case. Such a thing could easily become the cause of their deaths. Shrinking back into the torn foam back of the booth, she nodded thrice to show that she understood what he was talking about.

Mello nodded back firmly but kept his current position leaning over the table. Opening his mouth he continued to speak in a rough whisper.

"Now, we both know that Near was able to recover L's legacy."

Butterfly nodded to show he had gotten his facts straight. Mello seemed pleased with himself at that.

"Most of it I was able to figure out myself, but there's still some things even I couldn't have guessed." Mello's lips took a dissatisfied slant. "So that's where you come in."

Exhaling, Butterfly straightened her posture as Mello pulled back so his bottom was firmly on the cushion of the booth. "That's all." His voice had returned to a normal tone.

"So let me get this straight… You want me to give you all the details?"

"Indeed," Mello's tone had turned professional.

"Where?"

"Not here," was Mello's concise response.

"No shit, Sherlock," Butterfly hissed, rolling her icy blue orbs in irritation. Mello only chuckled dryly in response, jerking the mug roughly to his lips for another harsh sip. The silence that filled in after her comment was unsettling. So, to break it, Butterfly decided to start up more conversation.

"So…" she began awkwardly, still putting together the phrases carefully. "What have you been doing with your life lately beside dressing up and roaming the streets at forsaken hours?"

Mello snorted at her tone.

"I've been really busy, actually," he said with his tone still sharp. "I have a job that's mostly for my personal interests… but it involves a lot of underground work."

_Underground work…_

"Organized crime…?" she whispered barely audible. Mello gave her a mute nod, slurping his coffee now from the thin stirring straw. Butterfly gawked at him, her eyes wide with understanding. Mello gave no heed to her reaction and instead pulled a black ink pen from the pocket of his ridiculously tight pants. Gazing at the pen in wonder, Butterfly wondered how he even managed to fit that in those skin tight pants. Mello yanked a napkin out of the dispenser on the table and slammed it to the table's surface with his palm. The smacking noise it created caused everyone in the room to jump almost, rippling the image of the place. But it fell into its usual mode of sluggishness as Mello began to scratch at the surface of it with the pen, forming loops and letters along with the occasional number. He flipped the napkin around so that the words were legible to her.

"This is my phone number," he explained, pointing to the combination of black numbers. "This is the quickest way to contact me. I will also contact you via this number. You must not show this to anyone, by the way."

"So professional…" Butterfly grumbled as Mello began to scratch at the material with his pen once again.

"If I was professional at this, I would have made you memorize them and destroy the evidence. However, since you fuck up numbers, I wouldn't put you through that."

Butterfly gave a little snort. "How nice of you."

"I'm the embodiment of generosity," Mello added with a smirk, finishing the second set of numbers and letters. "Anyways… I need you to go to this address once we're done here." Once again the message on the napkin was revealed.

"Why?" Butterfly asked, taking the napkin in her hands, reading over it before she shoved it into her breast pocket. Mello shrugged, dumping the last of the coffee into his mouth with relish.

"You need a place to stay, don't you?"

Butterfly nodded, looking down at the remains of her own coffee, so creamy it was more white than brown.

"Also, there's someone else I was able to recruit to this case."

-

Mello's words still rang through Butterfly's ears as she walked towards the apartment Mello had given her the address to. It wasn't in the best of neighborhoods, but with Mello working with underground crime, she supposed the setting fit. Part of her had wanted Mello to accompany her there, but he had claimed that he had a bed waiting for him at the headquarters. The girl wasn't stupid; she knew the identity of the person willing to assist Mello. There weren't many people who could work well with the competitive blond. So, other than herself, there was only one being masochistic enough to handle that task.

Fingering her breast pocket, Butterfly fished out the napkin with the apartment number and address. Holding it up to her eyes, she triple checked the apartment number (there was much truth to Mello's claim about her and difficulty with numbers). Confident she had the right apartment she rapped her fist lightly against the door. The sound of footsteps reached her ears and she released a breath she had been unaware of holding. The sound of locks being undone with simple clicks also played through her head. Perhaps it was paranoia, but every little sound, including her heartbeat, was amplified by many octaves.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened to reveal a familiar face.

_Matt… _

But that little boy had grown up.

He had finally hit the growth spurt, his height now greater than hers by a good few inches. His hair wasn't much longer, but it was shaggier than it was when he was a child. The roundness of his face had vanished, though he still had a bit of a baby face. A black and red striped shirt covered his lean body and Butterfly noticed that there were a few crumbs on his collar. Those oh so familiar goggles covered his eyes which he moved up to his forehead to reveal his deep blue eyes that were wide in surprise.

"Butterfly…" he exhaled, his voice more deep and masculine. The indifferent set of his lips stretched into a smile that caused her stomach to flutter and her own lips to stretch into a warm smile.

"Long time no see," she breathed, eyes never leaving his. He may have been a grown man now, but Butterfly had made a metamorphosis as well.

She was taller, her face less child-like and more woman-like. Her body was more curved and more mature, her hair longer and more straight. All the blemishes from her face had all but vanished and her eyes were full of more awareness. However, her clothing choice hadn't changed (similar to how his hadn't), and she still chewed on her fingernails, shortening them majorly.

She was beautiful in his eyes.

Before either could find more words, Matt enveloped her in a tight hug, pulling her close to his rapidly beating heart. Instinctively, Butterfly wrapped her arms around him, clinging onto him for what seemed like an eon.

"What are you doing up this early?" was all Butterfly could force out.

"I haven't slept yet," remarked Matt in response, stroking her soft, raven black hair. "I was lost in Final Fantasy."

The fact that he was playing video games did not surprise Butterfly.

"You haven't changed," she laughed merrily.

"Neither have you," Matt teased, ruffling her hair. "Mrs. plaid shirts." Chuckling, he pulled away from the hug. "Come on into my lair."

"Lair?" Butterfly raised a dark eyebrow as she entered the apartment. Things were scattered but weren't very messy (probably due to Mello and his OCD). But the messiest place was near the television set which was surrounded by a tangle of wire and controllers. The couch held a two liter of some sort of soda and a half eaten bag of chips, some crumbs dotting the surface. "You're a pig," she teased, walking further into the "lair".

"Oink."

"Smartass…"

The petite kitchen was spotless, making it clear that no food had ever been cooked in the small area. But the two bedrooms were a different story. Mello's was cluttered; an uncommon trait for him. However, the bed was made nicely and there were many upon many stacks of paper in the area and the trash bin was filled with an assortment of crumpled up balls of paper and foil wrappers.

Matt's room was in disarray though it wasn't completely trashed. There was order to his sleep corners though the order was the disorder. His bed appeared as if it had never been touched or laid in. The floor held the discarded wrappers from games and the occasional cigarette packet. A few books were lying on the nightstand and a couple lay on the floor beside the wrappers.

"I didn't know you read," Butterfly joked, looking about the room more.

"I don't just play video games and let my brain rot."

Butterfly didn't respond, for her eyes were locked with a pair of unseeing ones on Matt's neat bed. An orange body, multi-colored limbs, a familiar stare…

"Baby…" Butterfly whispered. The dog/bear's black eyes almost seemed to twinkle.

Matt placed a hand on Butterfly's right shoulder. "Told you I would keep her safe." Swallowing back the tears that threatened to spill, Butterfly reached into her pocket on her pants and pulled out something big enough to fit into a handheld gaming system.

"My starter's name is Mail…" she said honestly.

The sweet kiss that came once she turned to look at him was one she had been waiting for.

One she had been waiting years for.


	16. Chapter 16

_"__Drop a heart, break a name._  
><em>We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team.<em>  
><em>We're going down in an earlier round<em>  
><em>And sugar, we're going down swinging.<em>  
><em>I'll be your number one with a bullet.<em>  
><em>A loaded god complex; cock it and pull it."<em>  
>-Fall Out Boy, Sugar We're Going Down<p>

Mello was beginning to feel the crazy kick in. His brain was a bomb set for detonation at any moment without any warning to those around him. Now that he once again had Butterfly on his side, perhaps he finally had a leg on up Near.  
>The blond laughed aloud at the thought, thanking the lord above that no one was around to see his pathetic state. Still chuckling, Mello plopped himself down on a musty couch that groaned like a man struggling to finish the last leg of a race. The sitting position was quickly switched into a lounge as Mello's cracked smile was finally replaced with his normal mask of dissatisfaction. Eyes hot like Hell's blue flames, Mello reached into his pocket and slipped out a foil wrapped wonder; chocolate from Switzerland. In Mello's mind, no other country could make chocolate taste as good as the Swiss could. <em>Just like no one can caught Kira better than L…<em>

But where was L now?

L was dead; six feet under. As Near said, he had lost the game.

It was funny how Near could make L's crushing defeat seem minor, as if it were no more than a kick to the shin and not a shot to the heart. It was funny how Near could make their mentor's life seem like a game of football and nothing else.

It was funny how Near would continue to dart ahead even without Butterfly's assistance.

_He didn't even _fucking_need her!_ Mello thought angrily. _I bet the little twit just let her go without a second thought because he only needs himself._

"Selfish little runt," Mello growled, snapping off a square of chocolate with a vicious chomp. Still agitated like a rudely awakened lion, he chewed the chocolate, thinking thoughts that could send a person to prison.

_Near knows tons more… Or does he… Maybe I just think he does. Perhaps I'm letting this whole inferiority complex thing reach a far more toxic level. _Mello's jaw relaxed. _He's not some perfect god or anything. He has to have some flaws._

Mello's eyelids closed as he thought that over, swallowing the chocolate. Everyone lacked something whether it was esteem or social skills. Near wasn't very social but Mello didn't think he would be able to use that to his advantage. There had to be something deeper, something that could allow Mello to take lead in this race. Rolling from his side to his back, Mello's gifted brain processed as many thoughts as he could. The chocolate bar in his arm was tilted towards his face but he didn't take another bite.

Then it clicked.

_I got it! _A smirk appeared on the young man's lips as he formulated a plan.

_Near never took a risk once in his life. That's my key. I'm not afraid to do whatever it takes to succeed L. Near, however, won't put himself up as an open target, at least, not yet. And by the time he _considers_it, I'll already have made my move._

It was perfect.

But horribly dangerous.

-

Butterfly was half awake, her face pressed against the fabric of Mello's couch. The couch was nice but her cheek felt flat and sweaty against the plush material. Sounds of explosions and machine guns being fired rapidly played in her ears as she watched the blurry colours on the television move about through her clouded vision. She had just woken up.

Her jaws opened as she released a yawn that could easily be mistaken for a groan.

"Matt…?" she groaned softly, forcing herself to sit up.

"Huh?" came his half grunted response. Butterfly blinked thrice more before she was able to register her surroundings. She was with Matt, that much she knew. On the couch, a toss blanket laid over her body, her body sore from passing out curled up, and he stomach was empty. _Matt is playing video games _she thought, pulling herself up more so that she was sitting down rather than lying limply across the couch.  
>Matt stayed focused on the screen, eyes narrowed in concentration. Video games always took up most of his attention, so she was not surprised by his neglect to notice that she was waking up.<p>

"Good morning…" Butterfly yawned, gently slapping her face to wake herself up more. Sneaking a glance at the clock, she realized that her statement had been inaccurate. "Or should I say good afternoon…" she corrected herself. A small smile appeared on Matt's face but he did not respond. The girl sighed, knowing that all forms of communication would be in vain until the brunette gamer reached a save-point.

The save-point came quicker than she had thought for he soon turned off the game and looked at her, goggles around his neck.

"How long have you been up?" Butterfly asked, mid yawn.

"Not long," he responded. "A few hours, give or take." Butterfly nodded at his response and placed a hand on her stomach which growled, demanding sustenance. Matt chuckled.

"Are you hungry?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah…" she admitted sheepishly. Matt got up from where he sat and walked over to the console system. Turning it off, he peeked over at her from over his shoulder.

"There's a Coney Island down the street, if you wanna go grab a bite with me."

"Why not just make waffles here, or something?" Butterfly questioned, gesturing towards the spotless kitchen, a bit hesitant on the idea of spending any money when they could simply whip up a batch of waffles. Maybe some crispy bacon, if they had any.

But at her suggestion, Matt laughed. She flushed a bright red as he explained.

"There's barely anything in the fridge, let alone the cupboards." His smile disappeared. "Mostly we just stock up on chips, soda, beer, and chocolate."

"Ah, but doesn't eating out put a damper on your funds?"

Matt shook his head. "With Mello… working with the mafia," his voice lowered almost out of instinct; as if there were a threat someone would hear, "we don't really have much of a problem with money. He's making the big bucks now." Butterfly nodded, understanding.

"You're so damn lazy, Mail."

A small blush crept across his cheek at the use of his real name. Without another word exchanged between the two, she took his hand in hers and they left; bed hair and all.

-

"Yeah, you have a good trip," spoke Mello honestly, barely smiling at the brunette girl looking up at him with wide eyes.

"I will," she smiled, clutching onto the handle of the suitcase tightly. Her limbs shook slightly from the weight but she seemed as if she could manage it herself. "It's been awhile since I've seen my parents." Alissa seemed happy about leaving the country for a little while. Which was good in Mello's mind.

_I would rather you not get hurt because of my actions…_ He knew he was taking things away from her still. The bed she slept in here, along with all the possessions she had tucked away, would not be there when she returned. In fact, he was even taking away her loving uncle. Simply because he could not win without taking risks and sacrifices that were not his to make. Looking into her eyes he felt guilty. Guilty that she had no idea what he was planning to do.

"Be good," he teased, placing a hand on her head in a loving manner.

Blushing, she stammered, "I will." Then, on a teasing note of her own, she added, "You behave yourself too, alright?"

All traces of a smile disappeared.

"Yeah…" he trailed off, looking away from those beautiful eyes. "I'll do my damn best." _Lies…_

She was not stupid.

"Mello… You're not telling me something." There was concern in her voice; a beautiful sound that he had not heard in awhile. Genuine care was such a rare thing in his life.

"What does it matter?" he retorted rudely, his voice harsh. She flinched away from the tone but held her ground.

"You should talk about it," she insisted, taking one step closer to the explosive blond. "Please, bottling it all up inside is only going to hurt you even more in the end."

Mello took a step back, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Why should you care? Why should I trust you?" Suddenly all the guilt and nerve of the actions he would soon be taking poured out through his words, making them sound cruel and… scared. _No, I'm not afraid. I know what I'm going to do._ To her he probably sounded like a terrified little kid cowering away from confessing to a crime. _I knew I would have to be a criminal going into this but…_

Alissa was fed up but still concerned. She dropped her baggage at her side and approached him at once, her eyes met his and he saw the determination in them.

"Because I _care_ about you, dumbass," she hissed. Yet, even though her words seemed cold… They meant so much. His eyes widened as he registered what she had said. That four lettered word, care, was spoken softly. It was spoken true. And hope filled his being.

_No… no… this is not part of the plan! I cannot let this happen._

Instead of saying was his caged heart sang, he turned away.

Speaking in a low voice of a criminal he said, "Like anyone could care about a guy who's name she doesn't even know."

He left her there, standing alone in the hall, reaching towards him, her suitcase at her side.

She left at one-thirty, just as she had planned.

Mello wasn't there to wave goodbye.

-

"Matt. Matt. Matt."

Matt rolled his eyes as the girl beside him continued to poke at his chest. She was curled up beside him, lying her head on his chest as he challenged the Elite Four for the billionth time it seemed. He needed to pick up some new games soon or else he would die of boredom, he supposed. Butterfly continued to repeat his name in a sing-song voice as she jabbed him, staring up at the screen held above both of them.

"What?" he finally asked, not missing a beat in his steps towards the next member of the Four.

"I just… wanted to know what you've been doing since I've been away…"

Matt saved his game, waited for the painful loading time to go by, closed the DS, and set it beside him.

"Well, things haven't been that interesting. Wammy's was a lot more fun. Now Mello's desperate and full of more hot air than usual," he explained, stroking her soft hair. "But mostly I take care of anything I need to hack. That's how we get some of our money. Plus, the mafia needs a few things… erased on certain sites. Naturally Mello takes all the credit." He shrugged, uncaring.

"Ah," she whispered, her poking ceasing. "Near mostly just had me running computers and going over similarities between victims and stuff."

He nodded and planted a kiss on her head. "But God, I've missed you…" His words were husky and low, setting the butterflies in her stomach free. Peering up at him shyly, she held his gaze for a few moments. Then, their lips met with passion and soon they were rediscovering every inch of other that they had not forgotten in their years apart.

Until the phone rang, that was.

Matt sighed and raised himself off the bed and walked over to the phone shirtless. Disgruntled, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Matt…" Mello's voice came on the other end. "Matt, I just want you to know that if I do not come back from this, that you're my number one. Got it?" Mello sounded frantic yet determined. "I think we have enough money tucked away for you and that black-haired bitch to live out a pretty decent life. She's smart; she'll get a job and support your lazy ass." Mello laughed. Yet the laugh seemed all wrong.

"Mello…" Matt started. "Listen to yourself. You're writing out my entire future without my consent. Now," emotions took a hold of Matt's voice. "What the hell are you planning on doing?"

"Matt… just listen to me. Just be okay and live out your life."

With that, he hung up.

Matt held the receiver against his ear longer, listening to the dial tone. His face was set in a grim fixture as he hung up.

"What's wrong?" Butterfly asked from the bedroom. Matt stormed in and snatched his shirt off the floor, pulling it over his head almost instantly.

"Get dressed," he ordered urgently. Catching his tone, she buttoned up her shirt and pulled her pants on, watching him the entire time.

They both walked out of the room and towards the door at a quick pace.

"We're going to go save Mello's sorry ass," he explained, snatching the keys to his car off the desk.

"You have a car?" Butterfly asked.

"It's nothing fancy," he told her as they took the stairs two at a time. "Just a crappy Ford I stole."

Once in the stolen car, they drove in silence. Butterfly was stony quiet, not sure how to assess the situation while Matt gnashed his teeth together the entire ride. He knew where Mello was. But he had not a clue what he was planning.

"He's not leaving me again," he spoke firmly. "Not after last time. I'm not losing anyone ever again."

But as they both caught sight of the soaring flames in the distance, they realized that such a notion could be stroke like a match.

"Mello!" they both cried in unison as Matt's fears were made real.


End file.
